If you really want to get a feel for the culture around safety, STOP with the surveys and get with today’s technology

Three of my five bosses throughout my career all had this same practice, which is far more telling than a “survey.” And with today's technology, such as cameras and drones, there is a far better way to gauge the “safety mindset” of our workforce. It works like this…

Hire a high-tech drone operator with high-resolution video capabilities and fly the drone over the entry/exit road at the end of the shift. Observe seatbelt usage, speed, passing, signal use, running red lights, etc. These simple observations will tell us more about the “decision-making” of our employees and contractors far more accurately than a survey.

This exercise will cost less than the survey; you do not have to bribe the workforce to participate, and you will capture real data regarding the workforce's attitudes, behaviors, and decision-making.

This exercise is NOT intended to seek out individuals; it is intended to be a glimpse into the actual behaviors/ attitudes the workers come to and go home with. It will most likely be painful to watch, but the discussion afterward opens many eyes and minds to the culture around safety. That same behavior and decision-making observed in that video is what is happening inside the facility. Anyone who thinks employees have a switch they turn on when they clock in and turn off when they clock out is delusional.

We did this recently, and the safety team blurred the vehicles so that management would not be able to seek retribution against a select few employees. On a plant property road with a posted speed limit of 15 and 30 mph, over 90% of the vehicles leaving doubled the speed limit.  More than 35% ran the red light on the main road. And shockingly, only 60% wore their seatbelts.

Special NOTE: 60% closely correlates to SB usage on PITs and other vehicles used within the facility. Company policy and state law mandate their usage.

We can capture this data across all shifts for several thousand dollars, although it is difficult to assess SB usage accurately at night.

This glimpse into employees' behaviors, attitudes, and decision-making will open many opportunities to understand WHY these behaviors are occurring and what can be done to influence them. 

Lastly, do we share the footage with the employees?

We never did, as it is not about them but WHY they displayed particular behaviors. This is intended to be a “blind study” for management to get a glimpse of how its workforce behaves when they are on their own. It's that 2:00 a.m. scenario where no one is around—does the employee do the right thing, or do they fail to follow procedures, wear the required PPE, etc.?

It's our ultimate goal… the employees make the right decisions even when they're on their own.