Safety Conversation Guide

Are you having the RIGHT kind of personal safety conversations with your employees?

It is common for many supervisors to talk with their employees about safety. Unfortunately, many people in supervisory roles do not have the skills or understanding on why or how to conduct the right personal safety conversations.

Consequently, the outcomes from one-on-one safety discussions can be disappointing - for both the supervisor and the employee. In many cases,

• Behaviors are unchanged
• Commitment is absent
• Trust can be eroded

The Safety Conversation Guide is based upon a proven approach for making safety conversations more effective. It is a cornerstone of a highly acclaimed workshop (facilitated by Continuous MILE Consulting) that teaches Safety Conversation Skills to supervisors and managers. Workshop participants gain a deeper understanding of not only how to talk with their employees about safety, but also the key concepts that determine why there is a preferred method for these conversations.

The Guide uses a five-step process that enables a supervisor to focus on the key elements of a compelling safety conversation.

1. Frame the Conversation - For an effective conversation, the supervisor first sets the stage by using questions that encourage a true dialogue. These framing questions are different depending upon whether the conversation is proactive or reactive.

2. Assess Risk-Taking - What are the factors which make it more likely for someone to take an unnecessary risk? An effective conversation uncovers these and addresses them.

3. Discover Error Traps - Often there are circumstances that increase the likelihood for human error. In this step, the supervisor considers these situations as possible contributors to a mistake that could result in an incident or injury.

4. Identify the Behavior - An assessment is made to determine the primary behavior, based on the conversation. The supervisor decides among three potential behaviors that are recognized in a Just Culture.

5. Take Action - The action that we take is dependent upon the behavior that is identified. The conversation is productive when both the employee and the supervisor make commitments that result in improvement, while building trust.

This Safety Conversation Guide mobile app is the e-version of the popular Pocket Guide for a Safety ConversationTM

This tool is provided to participants of the Safety Conversation Skills workshop described earlier. Almost everyone carries a smart phone today. If you do not have the original laminated Pocket Guide, this mobile app gives you access to this simple, yet powerful tool in electronic form.

Don't have another safety conversation before reviewing and following the process outlined in the Safety Conversation Guide!

About Continuous MILE Consulting

Continuous MILE Consulting provides clients with expertise in developing a safety strategy, improving safety leadership, and strengthening safety culture. Structured workshops and facilitated leadership sessions on these topics are offered. In addition, a survey instrument is available that provides insight on employee safety perceptions, while identifying improvement opportunities.

For more information, visit the ContinuousMILE website.