Who do workers turn to for safety info?
March 31, 2011 by Fred HosierPosted in: Chemical safety, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Research on safety, Safety training, Workers' attitudes about safety
A new study shows when employees need safety training and information about their jobs, they’re most likely to consult …
… their co-workers rather than a manager or someone in charge of safety.
Why? Because of perceived communication problems with and lack of trust in managers.
Why don’t they trust managers? Workers feel their own workplace knowledge and proposals for practical, cost-effective solutions to safety and health problems aren’t taken into account. In other words, workers feel managers aren’t listening to them.
Workers’ Perception of Chemical Risks: A Focus Group Study also found that employees are less likely to consult material safety data sheets and labeling systems because they’re frequently difficult to understand and not user friendly.
Here’s another scary finding from the study: Many workers are resigned to accepting safety risks as just being “part of the job.”
What’s the solution? Safety leaders need to understand workers’ perceptions about safety by listening to them more often. Safety training should include employee participation and focus less on lectures from managers.
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April 5th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
OK, this is great, but where does the employer go to get relief from union employees who disregard safety and are protected by the union with some disciplinary program that gives points, but those points fall off within a certain period of time and the employee begins again with the attitude of disregard. Why doesn’t OSHA fine employees for safety violations after reviewing their safety records. I am sick to death of people not taking responsibility for their own safety and expecting the company to do it all. It’s no wonder why all the jobs are being out-sourced…
April 6th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
It all starts at the VERY TOP!
Ask yourself, “what does this company really VALUE”? “Workers” take safety seriously ONLY when every manager and supervisor prioritizes the VALUE of safety at each level within the organization, and makes SAFETY an equal prioity to his or her operational/financial/legal tasks. The fact is, a company is NOTHING more than a “family” of workers, even when some are “adopted” from the local union hall, and even when some run amuck- yourself and the CEO included.
Remember, the CEO is the nothing more than the floor sweeper for the Board of Directors.
1. Can the whining and step up to the plate.
2. Dig in with a fieceness for safety, befitting of your title.
3. Do YOUR job so others CAN do theirs, (or fill out an application for OSHA).
4. Implement accountability for managing risk, beginning with the Board of Directors
or
5. Hire a darn good consultant who does not FEAR for his or her paycheck or position and present the Enterprise Risk Management risk assessment findings to TOP MANAGEMENT-the Board of Directors and their CEO. Become their fearless leader and their champion of “what’s right”.
Let’em know where they really stand, and don’t worry about a “soft spot to land”!