How to get ‘buy-in”
It is a company’s executive leadership that has the most influence over top management, both of whom control the safe working environment. (Krause et al. 2010, Molenaar et al. 2002).
People want to be safe. They want to do what is right. However, often times there are hidden barriers for them to buy-in to real safety. The president, the executive team, and top management create an environment of real safety by removing these hidden barriers to buy-in.
Common hidden barriers include a lack of response to employee input or suggestions, reprisals from Supervisors or peers, and blaming the worker for injuries, instead of looking at root causes and system failures.
Other hidden barriers may be incentive programs, drug testing programs, and inconsistent disciplinary mechanisms that discourage reporting injuries, illnesses, hazards, and risks. Promoting unsafe employees and leaders to positions of advancement. Failing to use the hierarchy of controls to identify risk and protect workers. Focusing on the line/hourly worker, and not addressing the responsibility of leadership, supervisors, and managers for safety all impact a safety culture negatively by cultivating the perception that production takes precedence over safety and health.
If you are in an executive position, then you are in an influential position to improve buy-in. You can get buy-in by 1) identifying the barriers to buy-in in your company and 2) systematically removing the barriers to buy-in.
This can be accomplished by asking for feedback from your workforce and by spearheading focused initiatives to improve.
You know what to do. Use the same principles that you used to get you where you are today.
Influence others to take practical steps to improve. We can’t just “want safety”, we must actively lead it, influence it, and hold others accountable for it.
Starting with…
Ourselves.
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Thank you for all you do for safety, and I’ll see you out there!
Seth (Aka Safety Culture Pro)
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