Ensuring that safety information has been effectively communicated and understood has always been critical to keeping workers safe. In the context of the harmonised Work Health and Safety legislation, it is also now an important compliance consideration for organisations to pay attention to the ways in which they communicate and consult on safety issues with all workers.
QRMC’s experience in consulting with organisations of all sizes and across many industries has highlighted for us some of the important components for effective safety communication. These include:
- Know who you’re talking to
If safety communications are to be understood by the target audience and have the intended impact, they must be carefully crafted for the individuals concerned and must reflect the context of the overall organisation. The language and terminology used within the communication should align with the cultural diversity within the workforce, the workers’ level of technical understanding, the workplace culture (and cultural maturity), the organisational history and safety performance. - Be careful of language
Negative language, compliance-focussed language and overbearing or officious approaches to safety communications can generally be expected to reduce levels of both attention and cooperation. This can be a major ‘turn-off’ factor. - Pay attention and act
Attend to what workers say, both generally and in response to safety communications. Honest feedback from workers is extremely valuable in understanding how safe behaviours and better outcomes can be achieved within your organisation, but you won’t get that honest feedback for long if you don’t both attend to and act upon it (and ensure this action is also communicated). - Communicate proactively and personally
Communicate frankly, frequently, and before issues turn into serious problems. Communicating only in response to incidents and/or complaints tends to create an atmosphere of mistrust that prevents important messages from getting through. - Demonstrate
Leaders (from CEO down to supervisors) must set the standards of both behaviour and communication that are expected from the workforce: safe behaviours, open communications, respectful interactions etc. This positive modelling will also help to create a culture resistant to bullying and harassment. - Use examples
Rather than just presenting bare facts or assertions, use examples to illustrate the safety messages you’re communicating – used in moderation ‘real life stories’ attract attention and can make it easier to understand and remember why the safety issue being communicated is important. - Positive feedback
When you’re giving positive feedback to an individual or group, resist the temptation to mix in a negative rider: the fatal “but”. Some people will only hear the negative part. It is recommended that positive feedback is made public while interventions/concerns are kept well separated within one-on-one discussions. - Give encouragement
People need to feel appreciated. Expressing appreciation for the effort so far and encouragement for the work achieved towards the ultimate goal will help to foster healthy working relationships and keep up morale.
As with any learning process remember the old proverb: I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Please contact QRMC for more information.
