People Development

Coaching

Coaching Employees To Develop Safe Work Habits

Often, when supervisors conduct safety inspections, they tend to concentrate on conditions or "things" that may lead to accidents. While it is very important to frequently identify unsafe conditions and correct those situations, it's even more critical to conduct personal safety evaluations specific to each employee's individual work practices.

Safety professionals have determined that over 90% of all injuries are caused by unsafe acts and poor work practices. This means that individual decisions people make are most often responsible for causing injuries and accidents. Regular personal safety contacts by supervisors can identify unsafe behaviours before an injury takes place at your company.

Laws of probability are associated with accidents and injuries. For every serious disabling accident, several occur which only result in minor medical treatment, and for each of these, many smaller accidents or near misses take place. By reducing minor accidents and near misses, the probability for serious injury is also lowered. This is an important goal of safety inspections and coaching employees in safe work practices; identifying and eliminating hazards and/or behaviours that may lead to an accident.

Focus on People

The ability to communicate effectively with others and understand what motivates people are critical components for coaching employees. We all know how difficult it is to change our own behaviour when attempting to overcome any bad habits we have acquired over the years. What must we know in order to influence the behaviour of others?

The first thing to realize is that all of us are typically more interested in ourselves than anyone else in the world. It's human nature to be selfish. We all have the need for approval, want to feel important about who we are and we want to amount to something as human beings. Employees want credit for their work and ideas. Individual attention helps them feel that their significance to the company is recognized. By maintaining other peoples self-esteem and allowing them to feel good about who they are makes them easier to get along with. This is a critical step in getting your point across to them.

Dialogue with workers should reinforce safe work habits in addition to identifying unsafe ones.

Your goal - "Catch people doing things right!"

This encourages them to continue the same correct behaviour.

When you encounter poor work practices, remind employees that working in risky ways are bad habits that need changing. Changing bad habits is very difficult. It requires concentration, reminders, and positive feedback as improvement occurs. Simply discussing proper work habits is rarely adequate for habit change. You must appeal to the individual's self interest when you:

Describe,
Demonstrate,
Allow time to practice,
Provide feedback, and
Praise new habits

In order for behaviour to be changed employees not only need to understand that it makes sense to do things differently, but they also have to be shown that their efforts are recognized and appreciated.

Never rely on an employee's "common sense" for accident prevention. "Common sense" is actually a combination of common experiences. New, young, or inexperienced employees may never have personally shared these experiences. With good supervision and an effective orientation program, they can learn through training rather than through personal or witnessed pain.

Encourage employee participation in the safety program and increased job performance. Ask for and listen to their ideas and suggestions, as they may very well have solutions that can improve the safety process and increase production. The best ideas for improvement often come directly from the people doing the work. Be open to employee input and remember even someone new to the organization may have a unique suggestion that could revolutionize the way you do business.

How you approach employees when correcting poor work practices and habits will determine how effective you are as a supervisor. Coaching workers allows you to monitor their activity and give them positive informal feedback about their progress. In addition, the coaching technique prevents a cycle of negative criticism and helps to avoid the possible formal path of performance improvement plans for purposes of documented progressive discipline.

True or False?

"I don't like having someone tell me I am wrong. If my supervisor speaks to me critically about the way I work, I automatically start finding reasons for the way I do things. I feel I have to defend myself, rather than listen to what he wants me to do or why I should change."

"If my supervisor makes me feel like he's genuinely concerned about my well-being, and he asks me to change the way I do things so that I'll be safer and less likely to get injured, I'll probably take his suggestion without getting mad. I might feel a little embarrassed, but also a little grateful."

"Sometimes when my boss complains about everything that's wrong, but never finds anything that's right, I really resent him and his authority. A lot of my time and energy at work is spent thinking about how I can get back at him."

How would you feel if your supervisor spoke to you this way?

"John, I know it's hard to change the way you use that tool. It has become a habit to do it that way, but I'm concerned about an injury to your hand. Let me show you a safer way to use the tool - like this - then I won't have to worry about you anymore. Will you get used to doing it this way from now on? Good! I don't want to have to take you off this job, or worse yet, take you to the emergency room."

"Tom, you've been here a long time and you're one of our most productive workers, but if you keep on taking shortcuts with that operation, I'm afraid your luck is going to run out, and you'll get seriously hurt. I NEVER want to see you take the guard off that machine, or repair it, unless it's locked out and tagged. That's our company policy and I intend to have it followed. Can I count on you, Tom? Okay!"

"Doug, it's my responsibility to see that you don't get hurt on the job, but if you keep operating your equipment that way there's a good chance you'll be hurt, and I know neither one of us wants that. None of your family wants it either, especially your wife and that little one you've got on the way. Let's discuss how it should be done and I'll show you the proper method. Maybe no one ever made it quite clear ...."

"I've been watching the way you move materials around and I'm glad to see that you're doing it right and taking care of your back. Thanks for being a leader Joe and showing these new guys, by your example, how to do it correctly - keep up the good work! Do you think you could share a few back safety ideas with the crew at our next safety meeting? I'd really appreciate it."

Reminders for dealing with employees

Focus on the "unsafe act" rather than the employee, their personality, or attitude.
Talk with employees rather than at or to them.
Be assertive rather than aggressive.
Set the example. Your actions speak louder than your words. Employees don't hear what you say if your behaviour contradicts your words. Remember, if you're going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk.
Ask for cooperation instead of demanding it by asking for their help in solving problems.
Ask open-ended questions to improve communication and actively listen.
Summarize conversations to make sure you understood the employee and they understand you.
Be generous with kind statements. Gratitude is not a common thing. By being generous with appreciation you stand out as a positive leader and foster an atmosphere of cooperation.
Always give credit to the employee whose suggestions or ideas you use and thank them for their input.
Praise employees for good work practices and good ideas. Look at your role as a team coach in the game of life. You want to encourage your team to perform at their optimum level. You want them to win and to play the game without getting hurt.