Watch your Ps and Qs

We would like to think that most Brits still have old-fashioned values, such as being polite, an obsession with queuing and holding open a door for someone. This behaviour bodes well for health and safety at work – as not only will we hold the door open for someone but we will also help them with the heavy box they are carrying down the corridor and into the store room – reducing the risk of injury. Generally we like to look out for people, to offer assistance and lend a hand – or even an ear. But are we guilty of being too polite, perhaps? After all we wouldn’t want to upset or annoy anyone by interfering.

Mind your own business

There are aspects of the British personality that may have a negative impact on health and safety behaviour at work. We shouldn’t make sweeping generalisations about a whole nation but, as a rule, we are quite reserved. We very much don’t like to ‘make a fuss’ or complain – and if we do it’s in a very apologetic way. Or perhaps our famous ‘stiff upper lip’ makes us more likely to put up with unsafe conditions?

Tut tut

We are very good at moaning about someone under our breaths – or that terribly British thing the ‘tut’, but for the most part we would rather quietly stew and keep our opinions to ourselves. This unwillingness to ‘speak up’ is a key behavioural issue that needs to be overcome by a company who wants to create a successful health and safety culture.

A lot of fuss and bother

Of course it’s not just the Brits, if any of your employees do not like to make a fuss then they may not report an accident or fill out that near miss report. Perhaps they worry that they will get someone into trouble and be labelled a ‘grass’ or a ‘moaner’. They may also feel embarrassed about telling someone that their behaviour is dangerous, or that they are causing a slip or trip hazard, for example.

Your communication, therefore, needs to target this reserve, to encourage people to speak up, look out for others, get involved and talk about health and safety every day, as that is how we change behaviour and create a safer workplace. ‘Now, who’s up for a nice cuppa?

Employee power

Reporting an incident or ‘near miss’ gives the employee a chance to demonstrate the values they are learning. If near miss reporting is on the increase then it shows that people are taking health and safety seriously. They are recognising the importance of risk, communicating unsafe behaviour and thinking about how to make things safer. They understand that near miss reporting is a good thing – it is a way of making sure that a positive comes out of a negative and that reporting something that nearly happened is an opportunity to remove potential hazards and prevent something from really happening.

Leading from the front

Near miss reporting is a good opportunity for a manger to demonstrate good leadership – to lead from the front and set a positive example. They have the opportunity to reassure people that a rise in near miss reporting is not a negative thing; that increased reporting of near misses helps to learn and prevent future errors.

Reducing risk

Near miss reporting is a practical way to remove risk from the workplace. There are many different ways that companies choose to record near misses, which often depends on their particular culture. Some companies, where perhaps the workforce is still quite nervous to reporting may choose to implement ‘Near Miss Stations’. This makes it easier for people who may feel awkward about ‘speaking up’. Other companies are now opting for a more open approach, enforcing the notion that near miss reporting is a positive action and encouraging two way communication.

So if you want to know if your health and safety programme is getting through then take a look at your near miss reporting – the safest sites are those with the most near miss reports!

See an example of how construction firm, Wates have successfully implemented near miss reporting across their workforce. http://www.hillsolomon.co.uk/health-awareness-campaigns/wates/

Straight to the point

Safety films are a great way of raising risk awareness and influencing culture change. You are able to get a lot of information across in a relatively short space of time and engage with viewers far more than with reams of literature or lengthy manuals. Film allows you to convey the most complicated messages in ways that are easy to understand and digest quickly.

Real people, real lives

There are many ways to bring a film to life and make it relevant and interesting to the audience. Films give us the opportunity to meet people who have been affected by safety issues. A film we produced for a Construction business involved interviews with managers who had experienced first hand what it felt like to have a member of your team injured at work. This allowed the audience to see the real impact that unsafe working practices can have on real people.

Dramatised scenarios

To actually see a situation unfold in front of your eyes is a powerful way of getting a message across. Just as we get involved in TV dramas, so too can we empathise with scenes from an awareness film – if it is done well and is relevant to us. Accident re-creations are also effective, as often the audience can identify with a situation and realise that they have perhaps been lucky in the past.

A shared experience

It is vital that any employee awareness film includes opportunities for discussion and interaction. The advantage of modern video is that we are now able to be even more interactive, with viewers able to make choices, the results of which will provide the next set of video material. This means that people can see the benefits of making good decisions and the problems of making bad ones without it happening in real life.

Films which stimulate discussion could also include employee vox pops or even candid employee discussion groups.

Many films include interviews with senior management. The senior team are often busy people and cant regularly visit sites and speak to employees. A well presented message from a director can give real credence to safety messages. In a recent film about Manual Handling for BAE systems – Munitions, the Operations Director went on camera to say “If you have a suggestion about safety, I want to know about it … if it’s a good suggestion I will invest in it”. It was very powerful, and as a result the comapny received some excellent suggestions about how to further design out or mitigate the risk of manual handling in their manufacturing sites .

Hill Solomon offers a full suite of production services, from content development, script writing and storyboarding through to directing filming and editing the final programme. Get in touch to view our show reel.

As part of a successful health and safety culture, employees need to undertake important training and this often falls to the managers to carry out. But is this necessarily the right approach? Being a fantastic manager doesn’t necessarily mean you are a great presenter and no-one is going to sit up and take notice of a boring speaker, reading through dozens of Powerpoint slides full of lengthy text. So how can you help your managers make their training sessions more interesting?

Look who’s talking

Firstly, it is important to choose your presenters carefully. You need someone who is confident and enthusiastic and can put their point across well. Some people are natural presenters and so you should utilise their strengths. Others may not be so confident but with a bit of help and advice could be great trainers.

Be prepared

The old adage that ‘preparation is key’ could not be more relevant when it comes to presenting. It may sound obvious but you would be amazed how many people think that they just need to read out what they have been given to present. By taking time to prepare, you are able to gather information beforehand to make the training more interesting and relevant to the team. This could include personal anecdotes, for example, or collecting H&S data from your own area to use as discussion points. It also allows you to anticipate any questions, so if they come up, you know what you are talking about!

You can help your managers by supplying a ‘Manager’s Guide’ to help them prepare well. This should give help and advice about what information they need to get across and why, as well as useful tips and advice for use during the training.

Death by bullet point.

There is a lot to be said for how a presentation is delivered. Power Point is often the obvious choice but it can be used badly. Slide after slide of bullet points and lengthy text won’t inspire anyone – not the audience or the presenter. These days, with technology advancing all the time, there are many options for ‘jazzing’ up a presentation without the need for poor graphics and out of date clip-art. It is worth investing in a professional design company to equip your managers with a professional presentation tool which will interest and engage the audience.

Picture perfect

Use of visuals, especially video, is a great way to add interest and break up the talking. Your training presentation could include pictures, charts, analogies or cartoons. These all give the team something to look at and somewhere new to direct their attention. They also help emphasise a point, helping to make it stick in their minds.

Get involved

By far the best way you can reach people in a training session is by making it interactive. A good trainer will encourage participation by asking questions, setting exercises, stimulating discussion and inviting ideas. This keeps people interested and makes the training something fun rather than something that is simply ‘endured’. Again, a Manager’s Guide is a great way of helping the presenter to do this and give ideas and advice about how they can encourage discussion and participation.

With the right presenter and the right presentation, trainees will enjoy these sessions and if they enjoy themselves, the safety information is more likely to be retained.

Hill Solomon creates interesting and original training programmes and presentations for many of our clients, along with Manager’s Guides to help them prepare and present the information. Give us a call to discuss how we can help your people to get the message across.

Pitching at the right level

Different countries and regions have different safety cultures. What is routine procedure in the UK may be unheard of in another country. If we make assumptions then we may end up pitching the behavioural message on too high a level. Is it worth communicating the importance of ‘near miss reporting’, for example, when people rarely even report accidents.

Local lingo

As well as the language divide, there is also the issue of local languages – make sure you get translations approved in the local area if you want to avoid confusion – or even embarrassment. A great example is Coca Cola, who launched in China as ‘ke-ke-ken-la’. Unfortunately, what Coca Cola discovered after printing thousands of signs, was that in certain dialects this translated as ‘Bite the wax tadpole’! After researching more than 40,000 Chinese characters, they changed it to the much more appropriate ‘ko-kou-ko-le’, or ‘happiness in the mouth’.

Picture perfect

Language is not our only barrier when communicating with different cultures – the images have to be right too. You need to have the right mix of ethnicity so that workers identify with who they are being shown – use local people if possible. You need to show the right workplace environment. A US worker, for example, would not necessarily grasp a ‘safe driving’ message, with a poster of an English country lane – when they are more familiar with 14 lane freeways.

Be appropriate

Many countries have very strong cultural and religious beliefs and traditions so you must do your research – be careful not to offend. A seemingly innocent ‘thumbs up’ image, for example, is an insult in the Middle East. Similarly, the ‘ok’ sign in Brazil would be considered offensive.

Who needs words?

We’ve done a couple of campaigns for International clients where we barely used any words. Simply showing pictures of people undertaking tasks can often suffice. Show people doing what they should or shouldn’t be doing – next to a big tick or cross – and the message couldn’t be more obvious!

What do you think is important when communicating with people who speak little or no English – either abroad or in this country? Have you encountered problems getting your safety message across? Join our online discussion to have your say here.

Unfortunately every year about 70 people are killed carrying out DIY jobs and over 200,000 are injured. We’ve compiled our Top 10 tips to help you communicate to your employees how to be safe when working at home.

• Be prepared - It is just as important to plan a task at home as it is at work. Think of it as carrying out a risk assessment: Are your tools right for the job? Do you have the right protective equipment? Is the work area safe and secure? Have you allowed enough time? Have you even read the instructions?!
• Be realistic – Don’t take on any job that you think is beyond your ability. Electrical wiring should be left to professionals. Check that any walls you knock down are not load bearing – if in doubt, don’t do it.
• Using ladders - If you can, get somebody to hold the ladder steady for you and make sure both the feet and top of the ladder are on a flat and solid surface. Place the ladder so the distance between its feet and the wall is approximately a quarter of the ladder’s height. Keep three points of contact with the ladder at all times: two feet and one hand. Do not stretch beyond comfortable reach as you may lose your balance.
• Chemicals – If you paint a room, keep it well-ventilated – do not sleep in a freshly painted room for at least two days. Store chemicals out of reach of children and in their original packaging so that you can identify anything hazardous. Dispose of chemicals according to their instructions. Use a mask to limit inhalation of fumes, wear gloves and if you get chemicals on your skin or in eyes, wash immediately with cold water and seek medical help.
• Use protection – Protect your eyes from dust and flying splinters with safety goggles. Wear a dust mask to prevent dust inhalation as this can cause long term respiratory problems. Wear sturdy shoes with a good grip and preferably made from a tough material so that if you drop a hammer or a sharp tool it will not go through.
• Drilling – When drilling, wear safety goggles and gloves if you’re drilling something that could irritate your skin. When drilling a very hard surface, make a pilot hole before you begin to drill – and be sure to select the correct drill bit. Don’t leave the drill plugged in when you’ve finished.
• Tools – Keep tools clean and in good repair, and give each one a quick check before you use it. Take extra care with sharp cutting tools and never leave them lying around. Don’t use tools with a loose head or handle – it’s better to replace the whole tool than to risk a nasty injury.
• Electric tools - If you are using power tools, lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, sanders or other plug-in tools, always place cables behind you while you work, and don’t allow them to become kinked or frayed. Stop and disconnect all electrical tools before working on them and never work in damp or wet conditions. Use a circuit breaker – it could save your life if there is an electrical fault with your equipment or if you accidentally cut through a cable. Buy one which plugs into the socket and then connects to your tool.
• Make sure animals and children are out of harm’s way. – Stop children and animals from playing in the area where you are working for their safety and for your own. It is important that there are no distractions when you are doing dangerous jobs.
• First aid kit – Keep a first aid kit handy so that you can quickly clean and patch up any cuts or grazes.

‘The most important first step in creating strong culture in a business is the vision.  Think of all the great companies out there and you’ll immediately be able to visualise what they’re about.  A strong vision gives everyone in the business a unifying purpose to work towards – which is incredibly engaging – as well as a guide to help people to make the most effective decisions possible.

Now, getting the vision right can be tough – especially one that’s truly authentic.  If you’re going to do it properly, you have to spend time understanding what matters to the business in terms of guiding people towards the culture that you want to achieve, as well as finding out how well those messages are already embedded as values.  If you don’t, then a mismatch between people’s current values and a vision that’s not perceived as authentic – or just for show – can lead to some truly spectacular failures.

Did you know Enron’s four key values defined in their vision were ‘Respect’, ‘Integrity’, ‘Communication’ and ‘Excellence’ – do you think people saw these as authentic?

In my experience the best way to formulate the vision is to make it a collaborative exercise – involve people at all levels of the business.  It is important that you distill the vision down to a simple set of messages, so you may not think that adding the complexity of lots of people’s input would be helpful, but it really pays dividends later on in terms of engagement, and therefore how successful you are in achieving it.

Once you have a vision that works for you, you need to use it as a guide to help define clearly what the business is all about, including the values that you would expect people to adhere to as well as the long term goal that you are aiming towards.

Now, it would be great if you could just issue it as an edict and then people would naturally understand what to do with it, but, as you’ll know, it really isn’t that simple.

So, how to make the vision really work for you – creating something that people really strive towards as part of their daily working lives?

Well, embedding a vision is a long-term journey but I’ll focus here on my top three key initial activities which you should undertake to kick-start the process:

1. Spend some time people inspiring with the message behind the vision.  What would it really mean to the business (and every individual within it) to achieve the business?  Make the positive impact personal, with a combination of both emotional and practical messages.
2. Let people spend time understanding what the vision means for them – they need to really understand the practical implications for their own role and how it will guide their decision making.  One effective way of doing this is to get people together in teams and work on practical ‘case studies’ to help them understand how the vision helps on a day-to-day basis, and what they can individually do to support that.
3. Reinforce the vision with visual messages – To embed a vision you need to constantly reinforce how important it is.  High-quality visual messages make a real difference in this regard, ‘selling’ the importance of the vision to the business, as well as inspiring pride in its achievement.  There are many examples of how well put together marketing campaigns have positively changed people’s perception of what an organisation’s about – applied effectively internally, you can gain similar dramatic results.

In summary, more than anything else, it is worth taking the vision seriously – both spending a decent amount of time involving people to put a quality, authentic vision together, as well as spending the time making sure it’s embedded using ongoing communication through a variety of channels.

If you dont take it seriously, whatever culture change programme you undertake is in danger of running out of steam, especially if the vision is seen as inuthentic or unclear.  However, the positive benefits of creating this clear picture of success are incredible, taking your culture – whether just in the area of safety or otherwise – to a level which is truly world class.’

For more information about JOMC please visit their website www.jomc.co.uk 

A healthy workplace

As we spend so much time at work, the workplace is a great way to encourage people to improve their health. So, how can you promote a healthy workplace? Simple things such as a poster campaign to point out how little things matter – take the stairs, not the lift, go for a walk at lunchtime, eat your five a day – perhaps you could provide free bowls of fruit in the office?

A happy workplace

A healthy heart is about fitness and diet but let’s not forget about absence due to stress. Stress can be a serious condition and shouldn’t be taken lightly, however there are ways you can help general wellbeing and create a positive working environment. Time dedicated to health and fitness can really pay off. Encourage employees to get involved – signing up together for a charity fun run, or fitness and activity days are sociable, fun and great way of getting colleagues talking and active at the same time.

It’s good to talk

It’s also important to remember the old adage, ‘it’s good to talk’ so encourage this – set up forums for people to discuss workplace issues, either in person or online perhaps. Don’t forget, however, it’s also ‘good to listen’ so make sure there are visible ways to prove you are – suggestion boxes, team meets – even social events for a less formal environment.

Health and wellbeing days

A great way to highlight the issue of health and safety and focus your employees is by arranging a health and wellbeing fair. These open days can be a lot of work to put together so speak to us and we can give you a helping hand. These fairs are a great way to bring your suppliers, health professionals, such as Weightwatchers, and health charities together, interacting with exercise classes, games, challenges, advice and information.

Research by The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows that, on average, sickness absence costs businesses £567 per employee per year. Finding ways to manage health issues within your organisation can make savings many times greater than the modest investment needed to achieve this and, most importantly, lead to a healthier and happier workforce.

Top tips for a healthier workplace

• Keep a bowl of fruit in the office for everyone to help themselves
• Encourage people to use the stairs not the lift
• Make sure plenty of drinking water is available with water coolers around the workplace
• Encourage your team to get some fresh air and go for a walk in their lunch break they will be more productive in the afternoon
• Treat them to a box of doughnuts once in a while – ok it’s not exactly healthy but it will show you care!

What’s on TV?

If we look at most of the ads on the TV, the products that they are selling all have many features – a shampoo with ‘shine technology’, toothpaste with ‘whitener’, coffee with freshly ground beans… What the advertiser is actually selling us, however, is more subconscious – the benefits of using a shampoo will give you gorgeous hair, make you look good and be more attractive to the opposite sex! They appeal to us on an emotional level.

Fear tactics

This approach is also used for health and safety promotion, appealing to our emotions, often through the use of ‘fear tactics’. Smoking causes lung cancer, drugs cause brain damage, eating fatty foods gives you a heart attack – even blood and gore appear in a lot of road safety campaigns. However, there is a debate about the effectiveness of such hard-hitting advertising. Does it really make people listen? In some cases, it may turn people off even though safety professionals may think them really effective.

Embracing life

A different approach is one used by the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, with its award winning ‘Embrace Life’ seatbelt TV ad. This was deliberately developed to move away from the hard hitting shock advertising often used in road safety. The ad features a slow-motion sequence set to poignant piano music. It shows a family in a living room, where the dad is shown miming what happens in a car accident before his wife and daughter throw their arms around him like a human seatbelt to save his life. The emotional impact was so great that the ad went viral worldwide with 11.8 million views on YouTube alone in 10 months.

Making safety personal

Bringing loved ones into safety communication makes safety personal. We used this idea when we created an employee safety campaign for Princess Cruises. Amongst other initiatives, it encouraged staff, who are often away from family and friends for months at a time, to put pictures of their loved ones on a notice board. The message was to think of the far reaching effects of an accident on board ship.

Could family, therefore, be the greatest motivator in safety communications? Perhaps people are more likely to change their behaviour to protect their family’s emotional well being than to actually protect their own physical health?

‘Going home safely to family and friends’ was the basis of our recent campaign for Mitie. See what we did.

What do you think? Does shock advertising work? Is family a key motivator? What if your employees are young, singles and don’t have a family yet? Join our discussion to have your say here.

Getting personal

The three part programme introduced the concept, with a specially created film, team workshops – with a manager’s guide to assist the roll out, and eye-catching posters, featuring actual employees at work and at home. The aim was to create a personal campaign that employees could really identify with. We interviewed a range of MITIE people, getting them to think about how an accident might affect life outside work, with family, friends, hobbies and interests.

Worth the risk?

To follow on from this, the second and third phases looked more at key hazardous activities in the business, such as winter working, working with electricity, driving, working at heights, slips and trips and manual handling. Throughout the programme, we created accident scenarios and looked at how the causes were linked to individuals’ behaviour.

Client feedback

“As a result of the programme, we have seen a significant reduction in incident rates, an improvement in near miss reporting and improved employee engagement at all levels of the business.”

Richard White, Enterprise Risk Director, MITIE Group PLC