Most of us who were adults in the 2000s can recall some silly claims made by “Infomercials.” You know… “The Juicer,” the “no-stick pan,” the “Snuggie,” the knives that slice a beer can and tomatoes, the “Shamwow” towel, and the list goes on and on. Oh man, could they make the product seem as if you just had to have it, that it would change your life instantly, and don’t forget the famous line of all…
“all this could be yours for just three easy payments of just $19.99 PLUS shipping and handling.”
Starting to sound familiar?
As a safety professional, I often feel like I am watching a safety infomercial with all this “Safety is #1” song and dance routine. So I ask the safety profession this… Has industrial safety become an “infomercial”?
A lot of slick talk and catchy sayings, but a product that is just a shiny-hyped, overpriced piece of garbage that falls well short of our reality. Sound harsh? Well buckle up, buttercup, because you’re in for a wild ride!
With all this cheerleading and parading of safety WITHOUT substantial demonstration to match the rhetoric, workers (including the safety leaders/teams) will give this rhetoric as much respect as we all did the infomercials. Sure, a few folks will buy into the sales pitch, but will they be disappointed in the actual product they bought into? Remember, that feeling when the product arrived was NOT what you thought you would get, or it broke within the week of its use. How many more infomercial products did you buy after getting burned?
The next time we hear an ad (any ad), we are skeptical because there is NO TRUST, and the product has NO CREDIBILITY.
We can’t sell safety if the product is simply an infomercial product.
We need to DEMONSTRATE what it means to proclaim “Safety is #1”, “Safety is our top priority,” etc.
We need to ensure the safety product we are selling is a SOLID product we can stand behind, not some razzle-dazzle with no quality.
The safety product fits the business’s risk profile and needs.
If we want to plaster the workplace with safety slogans, our actions need to match the words, or we end up eroding TRUST and CREDIBILITY.
And remember the old Dutch saying, “Trust arrives on foot, but leaves on horseback.” Once we lose that trust and credibility, it is much harder to earn it back.
We need to adopt this approach in our safety efforts…
“Your actions speak so loud I can’t hear what you say.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
