Steven H. Schwartz, Steven H. Schwartz & Associates, P.L.C.

Safety used to be the place to dump the unproductive manager while the organization waited for him to retire.  The Coronavirus pandemic has changed that.  Maintaining employee safety – and establishing an employee perception of safety – has become the paramount concern for management to address in 2020.

Workplace safety is not established by technology.  It is not established by artificial intelligence.  It is also not established by one person or one union.  It is established through the implementation of common-sense principles, even if common sense is not “common”.

Facts matter.  As a society, we are steadily drifting away from decision-making based on facts and information.  Opinions are not facts.  Assumptions and presumptions are not facts.  Triple hearsay are not facts.

Facts are obtained by first-hand knowledge, by asking questions from a variety of people, reading a variety of material from different perspectives, direct observation, and separating “assertions” from “truth”.  Having an open mind, rather than a forgone conclusion in which “facts” are sought out to justify the forgone conclusion, is essential to discovering accurate and actual facts.

Planning matters.     Having a written plan helps.  While “nothing goes according to plan”, preparing a plan increases the likelihood that adequate equipment is available or readily obtained.   It forces the writer to think through a problem.  It gives other employees immediate access to information regarding procedures, protocols, contact information and resources.

Leadership matters.  Safety only works if top management embraces it and demonstrates a commitment to it, not only verbally but by visible actions.  If the General Manager does not put on safety glasses when she goes into the plant floor, why should she expect the plant employees to wear them?

Leadership from unions also matters.  If union officials and the local committee members embrace the safety procedures, other union members will follow their lead.   Employees can encourage, through various means, other employees to follow the safety procedures.

Leading by example is critical.

Communication matters.  None of the principles described above will be effective if they are not communicated effectively to the workforce.  There are two reasons for communication.  The first is to establish the organization’s commitment to safety.  The second is to teach employees the proper way to do things.

We have become a visual society, not a society that reads.    Not every employee reads written policies.  Not every employee can read well.  Not every employee has time to read everything sent to them.  Safety principles are more effectively taught by either a live demonstration or watching a video. For example, a 30 second video on how to safely remove contaminated gloves is more effective than a three-paragraph description on how to remove them.

Technique matters.   Safety equipment is meaningless if it is not used correctly.  A cloth mask worn below the nose is not keeping anyone safe from the coronavirus.  A cloth mask worn below the mouth is an absurdity.   The training and follow-up must ensure that safety equipment is used only in the way it was designed to be used.

 “But it’s always been done this way” does not work if that way is wrong or a better way exists.  A welding helmet worn incorrectly for ten years does not mean the operator is wearing it safely, it just means he has been lucky in not having fragments hit his face or that he does not realize he has eye disease.

Listening matters.  Employers are now faced with employees who say they are scared to come to work.  Some of those claims are sincere.  Some are bogus.  In this situation, perception is as important as reality.  Therefore, those concerns need to be identified and, to the extent possible, addressed.

Managers should start the conversation with the goal that the employee will do 75% of the talking.  Of the other 25%, some of that time should be spent asking open-ended questions to draw out the employee’s true concerns:

• What makes you feel unsafe?
• What would you like us to do?
• What equipment do you need?
• What training do you need?

Safety solutions come from multiple sources.  Good techniques might be developed by management, based on their experience and research.  Good techniques may come from rank-and-file employees who do the work that is the target of the safety procedure.  Good techniques may come from employees in other departments who bring their real-life examples to the table.  Good techniques may come from outside the organization, such as organizations with similar operations, workers’ compensation consultants and MIOSHA’s CET staff.

It is time to dust off the old-fashioned Safety Committee and make it a cutting-edge source of continuous improvement and innovation.   Safety committees representing a cross-section of employee disciplines, with full and consistent support from top management and union leadership, can be an incubator for experimentation and creativity.

Safety improvements are generated by collaboration, not adversarial relations.  An organization’s ability to develop, communicate and implement good safety practices reflects its overall labor relations.  If there is trust, credibility and consistency, union representatives and rank and file employees are more likely to adopt the safety protocols that the organization is pursuing, rather than if the opposite is true.  The ability to identify and implement safety improvements mirrors the overall labor-management relationship.

Continuity matters.  A safe workplace is not established by one training session.  Safety techniques must be practiced, taught, and reinforced on a continual basis.  The message must be consistent and repeated to be reinforced.  If there are significant changes in the workforce, the new employees need to be trained.   

Safety is an ongoing process, but well worth the effort for everyone.