Page 16 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2017

SAFETY MANAGEMENT
Effective strategies to combat incremental rationalization include encouraging open and honest conversations with employees, understanding expectations, yours and theirs, perceived time constraints and unit biases.
the product of a series of events and ac- tions that created it regardless of inten- tion. Looking at the big picture first offers insights into why things happen. Thinking in regards to process facilitates the identi- fication of sustainable solutions. We often arrive at a fundamental cause that blames employees for injuries, when in fact, we are missing an opportunity to identify a pro- cess step or two that needed to be modified, deleted or included. If we believe that every process precisely works as designed, then the design is faulty if it produces an injury or another undesirable event.
While employee behavior is a critical process element, it is not the only one. The error is in believing that this is the case. By helping your leadership understand and acknowledge their role in every workplace process, you are reducing the risk of grow- ing a bulletproof employee and helping those that are on their way to becoming one to make the safety connection.
Any process that relies on a single fac- tor for success, including human behavior, is inherently flawed and flawed processes result in defects and missed expectations including workplace injuries, quality and production mishaps and ultimately finan- cial harm to any organization.
The diversity of approach and thought are keys to success in assuring sustainable solutions. The biggest error I see within organizations is that leadership designs processes that rely on the correct human behavior for the success of the intended outcome. For example, if the employee re- members to follow policy, then the result will be as planned. Another example is when, given a multitude of choices, lead- ership expectations are that the employ- ees will select the one they want them to choose, always, every time, simply because that is what is implied or expected. While reliance on employee behavior is a major factor in successful process outcomes, it cannot stand on its own merits to support efficient execution of the work. Human behavior is often best influenced through and by the process that encouraged it. By eliminating the undesired choices through process improvements, you reduce their selection through design. Bulletproof em- ployees exist because are many unwanted choices offered by their employer. Bullet- proof employees typically make the choices they view as the path of least resistance.
cultivating bulletproof employees.
The Common Relationship Between Human Behavior, Personal Risk Assessment, and Influence
Human behavior is the result of a personal risk assessment. We all behave the way we do because we have evaluated the pros and cons of the alternatives and decided on an action forward based on the likelihood of an outcome, the risk. Consequences of actions drive each of our behaviors. If we perceive the risk as being low, then we are likely to take that action. Conversely, if we view the risk to be high, we will probably not take that action. For example, if I per- ceive that I will lose my life today by not locking out that hazardous energy, then the probability is high (if my life is valued) I will make the right decision; that I will hold myself accountable for taking the right ac- tions to ensure my safety. If, on the other hand, I perceive that my well-being is as- sured by not locking out that hazardous en- ergy (after all... nothing has ever happened in the past) the probability is high that I will make the wrong choice because I want to get home a little earlier for my children’s soccer game. Bad choice in the sense that the outcome of my actions may not be what I predicted. In both instances, a risk assess- ment, my risk assessment, determined my behavior based on my personal view of the potential consequences of the planned out- come. Very often, helping the individual or organization early during this personal risk assessment is the difference between who gets to go home after work and who never returns to their loved ones.
A risk assessment conclusion is based on a point of view. Your point of view has a significant impact on how and why you draw conclusions. A point of view is susceptible to the incredible power of in- fluence. How you view a situation can be swayed by others. Think of the people that have had an influence in your life; those that have changed your course or those that have broadened your horizons. These people are influencers often not knowing nor understanding the significant impact
they have had in your life, both personal and professional. The same is true within organizations. There are formal and in- formal influencers that affect how other employees view themselves, their job, and their worth to the organization, both posi- tively and negatively.
Influence is an outcome, a result of an event or series of events. Most of us need to be convinced through a series of witnessed actions before we allow others the privilege of influencing us. A supportive boss arrives to work before everyone else and leaves after everyone else leaves. That predict- able action has a particular impact on em- ployees that shapes their point of view; an unwavering commitment to them and the company come to mind. A self-centered boss often treats employees with varying levels of disrespect. That undesirable action has a particular influence on employees that shapes their point of view; question- able commitment and ulterior motives come to mind.
In either case, leadership has impacted the workforce through its actions. Lead- ership in action is about encouraging the desired performance by recognizing that leaders are part of the process that creates every workplace outcome. Like most of us, bulletproof employees make behavioral de- cisions that are based on how they see the world and on their conscious and uncon- scious biases.
There are no doubts supervisors create and promote the working environment. This creation and promotion influences employees to behave in ways that are con- ducive to their surroundings. These leaders are the synergistic relationship between human behavior, personal risk assessment, and influence.
The Biggest Error:
Success is Dependent
Primarily on Human Behavior
The work environment is a process de- signed, owned, and operated by leadership. All work-related outcomes are the result of their processes, whether they are planned or unplanned. Everything produced is
16 Occupational Health & Safety | JUNE 2017
www.ohsonline.com