Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Why Relationships Matter in Safety



Following is a synopsis of an interesting blog post written by Judy Agnew Ph.D., senior vice president of Aubrey Daniels International, who works closely with clients to strengthen sustainable safety cultures.  She maintains that a solid safety culture starts with good relationships between employees and management. 

From a behaviorist’s perspective, safety is fundamentally a behavioral issue.  And as such, the only way to change or improve behavior is to use a process grounded in the science of behavior.   That process has to start with a positive and trusting working relationship between employee and management.  To go beyond the basics compliance requirements of a safety process, it boils down to the discretionary effort of the employees.  Exceptional safety happens when employees are in lock step with management.  Unfortunately you won’t get this kind of discretionary effort when employees dislike, distrust or worse, fear the boss.

According to Agnew:

Discretionary effort is created through the use of positive reinforcement. Research shows that when people are recognized for what they do well around safety and when reporting problems and concerns is met with reinforcing consequences (such as joint problem solving and problem resolution), employees will be more engaged in safety.

Within the post you can see a list of behaviors that contribute to positive workplace relationship.  They can be exhibited by any worker type and will lead to improved work in general.

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