creating a place where SAFETY HAPPENS

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This material was produced under grant number

SH-20835-10-60-F-37 from the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies

of the U.S. Department of Labor, nor does mention

of trade names, commercial products, or organizations

imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Telamon Corporation is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with

disabilities.

Module Content

Creating a Place Where Safety Happens, consists of two sessions:

1. Defining SMART Conversations, and

2. Creating SMART Conversations

Module Objectives

By learning to engage in SMART conversations, participants will empower relationships and environments for both employer and employee. Fear and anxiety on the job will decrease, confidence in a person’s ability to do the job will increase, and the result will be reduced injuries and incidents and an improved workplace.

DEFINING SMART

CONVERSATIONS

Defining SMART Conversations

What is safety culture? Safety culture is the environment where the attitudes, behaviors and perceptions of all workers are reflected in the health and safety of the workplace.

One way to measure or gauge those attitudes, behaviors and perceptions is by LISTENING to the conversations that take place around you.

HINT: This would be one of those times that you don’t wear

earplugs!


The types of conversations that take place in a workplace where a safety culture exists are SMART conversations. We hear a lot about SMART goals – ones that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. SMART conversations are similar.


SMART conversations are defined as goal-oriented dialogue that motivates and guides the participants of that dialogue into a place of health and safety.


The key to creating SMART conversations lies in a leader’s ability to develop the skill set of asking the right questions, depositing the right feedback , and listening and looking for the right cues. As skills are developed, SMART conversations begin to take place and powerful things happen. Soon, it becomes part of the culture.

Remember, you can’t

move forward, if you are

talking backwards.


Powerful questions open up an employee’s ability to think. When communications are declarative and one-way it has the ability to shut down thinking. When a person’s thinking is not being activated and stimulated it limits or prohibits their ability to attend to the task at hand. A lack of attentiveness results in increased incidents and loss of profit.


Which of the following is not an indicator of safety culture in the

workplace?

1. Attitude2. OSHA Posters3. Behaviors4. Perceptions

Check for Understanding

What is the skill that is important to have when measuring the effectiveness of safety culture in your workplace?


SMART conversations that move employers and employees alike in a forward direction toward health and safety have what type of orientation?


Can you think of a situation with a worker where perhaps your conversation or dialogue was not motivating or directional? How might you have changed it up to be more goal oriented?

You may be asking yourself does it really matter or is this just a bunch of hype. Wagner and Harter in 12: The Elements of Great Managing wanted to answer that question for you so they conducted a Gallup poll of over ten million employees and managers about employee engagement to find out. The answer: EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS NEED TO KNOW THEY ARE VALUED, even if they work in a chicken plant.


Check Yourself

On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest, how would you rate yourself on the 12 elements listed?

Element Rating Element Rating1 72 83 94 105 116 12

LIKERT SCALE

1-Chicken is dead.

2-Chicken is running around with his head cut off.

3-Chicken could be doing better.

4-Chicken is doing well.

5-Chicken is showing off in the marketplace.

The results of the survey produced 12 elements needed for employee engagement.

1. They need to know what is expected.

2. They need to have the materials and equipment they need to do the job right.

3. They want to have the opportunity to do what they do best everyday.


4. People want frequent feedback and recognition for a job well done.

5. It is important for employees to know that their supervisors care about them.

6. People need to be encouraged in their development.


7. They want their opinion to count.

8. The mission of the company needs to make employees feel that they are a part of something important.

9. It is important to know that fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.


10.People like to have someone else they can call a friend at their workplace.

11.In addition to being concerned about their development, employees need employers to let them know periodically how they are progressing.

12.Employees want to be provided opportunities to work and grow.


Do you need more evidence? In a recent integrative review of safety research, safety culture was found to be an indicator of reduced injuries and illnesses in the workplace.


It’s clear. The human factors field dominates research on occupational safety.

To help organizations identify job applicants who are likely to engage in safe and productive behaviors, Hogan Assessment System developed personality-based scales to predict safety-related behaviors.


After many years working with companies, Hogan discovered a correlation between an employee’s personality traits and their tendency to safety.


They found that conscientiousness and safety-related job outcomes indicated that individuals who are inattentive to detail, unreliable and have difficulty following rules are – as you would suspect - more likely to have accidents or injuries.


In their research, Hogan found that employees who possess a compliant and teachable spirit, exhibit confidence and stability and are aware of their surroundings are the same employees who exhibit safer behaviors.


You may not be able to change a another person’s personality, but if you can identify traits that influence safety and work toward developing the SMART conversations and strategies that help to encourage and foster those traits, it serves to reason that it would have an impact.


Encourage Compliance

Leadership is responsible for making employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts about potentially serious matters with the assurance that they will be heard and resolution found.


Build Confidence

Creating an environment where strength of character and human value is placed as a high priority builds confidence in workers.


In turn, this confidence acts as a preventive measure against the pressures that arise from an anxiety filled workplace that leads to careless mistakes.


Model Stability

Do employees and workers know what to expect from you when you come out on the floor? The ability to maintain emotional control while working is an indicator of a safe working environment.


A person who easily loses their temper is more likely to have an accident and cause an injury not only for themselves but for others as well. It is your role to model emotional stability at all times.


Create Awareness

Finding innovative ways to create awareness in an environment where a worker is tasked with the responsibility of performing repetitive tasks for extended period of time is a challenging one.


The ability to create awareness will aid employees in completing work more carefully, avoiding unnecessary risks.


Stay Teachable

People who know everything are hard to teach. Maintaining an open spirit that allows you to learn new things is critical for creating a safe environment. It allows you to hear and capture valuable information that may be shared by employees.


If leaders are not careful they can slip into a closed mindset that prevents them from hearing and valuing what workers have to contribute. Remember, the worker is the one performing the job. Who better to have insight and give input?


Which trait do you feel you most exemplify or model?

1. Encourage Compliance

2. Build Confidence

3. Model Stability

4. Create Awareness

5. Stay Teachable20%

20%

20%

20%

20%

In which trait or area do you feel you have the most potential for growth?

20%

20%

20%

20%

20% 1. Encourage Compliance

2. Build Confidence

3. Model Stability

4. Create Awareness

5. Stay Teachable

Which trait, if successfully modeled and implemented, would bring the greatest benefit to your specific work area or situation?

20%

20%

20%

20%

20% 1. Encourage Compliance

2. Build Confidence

3. Model Stability

4. Create Awareness

5. Stay Teachable

CREATING SMART

CONVERSATIONS

Creating SMART Conversations

By having SMART conversations, employers can begin to engage employees. Asking meaningful questions and engaging in powerful dialogue, build the skills and behaviors that lead to a culture of safety.


If you want to determine whether or not you are creating and engaging in SMART conversations, there are certain characteristics you want to identify.


1. Position Yourself as a Coach2. Frame Safety Standards as Personal

Learning Goals3. Ensure the Conversation is Two-Way4. Position the Other Person for

Growth


Position Yourself as a Coach

Coaching is a great leadership tool. It allows others the privilege of their own insights and allows them the opportunity to through their own process.

Whistle not recommended, but then again it gets pretty loud in those processing plants.


Frame Safety Standards as Personal Learning Goals

Turning standards into shared goals can help build a spirit of collaboration.


Ensure the Conversation is Two-Way

Building a space into your relationships for the exchange of ideas creates buy-in and ownership.


Position the Other Person for Growth

Listening and engaging with another person opens up the opportunity for instructional feedback.

Let’s Practice!

EXAMPLE OF A POTENTIAL SMART CONVERSATION STARTER

“Winston, I like how you take it upon yourself to make sure that all the paperwork is in order; that tells me that you really care about the quality of work that you do. I am going to make sure others know about your excellent work ethic.”


Creating and facilitating SMART conversations require strategies and the strategies sound a lot like messages!

IMPORTANTMESSAGE!


MESSAGE #1 – BE PREPARED

The first and most important message or strategy is to be prepared! Take time to develop powerful questions and look for opportunities to use them.


One model for developing powerful questions is the GROW model. The GROW acronym stands for GOAL, REALITY, OPTIONS, and WILL.


GOAL questions talk about the agenda or what we desire to accomplish

Scenario – You over hear a worker complaining about production goals.

“Sal, I understand you feel the benchmarks are too high. What would make them more realistic for you?


REALITY questions deal with the starting point.

Scenario - A worker has had repeated trips to first aid.

“Lois, I see you have been to first aid three times in the last month. Tell me about the common factors that occur before each incident.”


OPTIONS questions talk about possibilities.

Scenario – Someone repeatedly leaves a pallet jack in the walk way.

“Betty, I noticed that someone keeps leaving the pallet jack in the middle of the walk way. What would be three possible ways you would suggest addressing this so it doesn’t happen again?


WILL questions are about action steps.

Scenario – Safety audit is scheduled in three weeks.

“Sam, you know we have that safety audit in three weeks and the goal is no findings. Can you think of any obstacles that might get in the way of us reaching or obtaining our goal?”


MESSAGE #2 – PRACTICE MAKES PRETTY GOOD

As you work at creating SMART conversations, you may find that some of your questions and techniques need to be tweaked – that is why we call it practice.


MESSAGE #3 – DON’T BE A STRANGER

Workers interpret the presence of management as a symbol of how they rate safety, which supports the goal of an injury-free workplace.

“He who is most

present wins!”


MESSAGE #4 – LET THEM KNOW THEY MATTER

Taking the time to show employees that they are valued, asking them for their opinions and validating their concerns and ideas can transform a resistant workplace into a collaborative one.


MESSAGE #5 – TAKE OWNERSHIP

By doing your part to transform your workplace into a collaborative one, you communicate to the worker that safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Learning looks inward, and makes adjustments; blaming looks out, and makes excuses.

Learning looks inward, and

make adjustments; blaming looks

out, and makes excuses.


MESSAGE #6 – ACCOUNTABILITY IS INTEGRITY

Accountability is a welcomed occasion of any employer or employee committed to safety and health.


MESSAGE #7 – IF YOU MEAN IT, SAY IT

The level of importance you place on the information you wish workers to know, should dictate the way you communicate that information.


FILL IN THE BLANKSome of the things you will see in people who engage in SMART conversations is that they:1.Position Themselves as a ________.2.Frame Safety Standards as Personal ___________Goals3.Ensure the Conversation is ______4.Position the Other Person for __________

What is the most important strategy for engaging in SMART

conversation?

25%

25%

25%

25%1. Be confident

2. Be on-time

3. Be prepared

4. Be informed


SHORT ANSWER

What four words does the GROW acronym represent?

To Extend Your Learning, Check Out the Resources

BelowPoultry Processing Industry eTool (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/poultry/)

North Carolina Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Division, A Guide to Safe Work Practices in the Poultry Processing Industry

http://www.oshainfo.gatech.edu/ergo-training/trainer.html

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/poultry/



Susan Harwood Safety Training Grant Program

Team

Ivy Bonk, Program CoordinatorDebra Stewart, Corporate Risk Mgmt. Specialist

Jennifer Shahan, State DirectorTelamon Corporation

Elizabeth Eades-Guerrero, Regional EHS Manager, Tyson Foods

Sam Fulginiti, Safety ManagerAmick Farms, Maryland

Stephen Ridgell, Program Specialist, MOSH

Documents

creating a place where SAFETY HAPPENS