Machine Safety: What is your safety elevator pitch?

In less than 30 seconds, can you tell me why I should care about your plans for exceeding industrial safety compliance? Are business benefits part of your answer?

By JB Titus September 24, 2014

In less than 30 seconds, tell me why I should care about your plans for exceeding industrial safety compliance! (Hint: The answer should include business benefits and extend beyond just you.)

We often hear a company executive say things like this to an employee with responsibility for safeguarding. It reminds me that safety excellence requires more than "do as you’re told" safety policies and cultures. It requires, in my opinion, the presence of individual passion throughout an organization for significant improvement or "best-in-class" achievement of safety excellence, which is a noble purpose.

Safety excellence is a step beyond safety compliance!

With care, it is possible for executives of an organization to help create a "best-in-class" safety culture, but will that deliver "best-in-class" results? I have found that when those same executives also inspire people within their organization to speak about safety from the heart, that is usually when safety excellence can be achieved. Empathy and emotion about human behavior and other colleagues goes beyond the logical requirements for basic compliance. It means caring about others, what they value, and how safety excellence will improve. This is heartfelt safety excellence!

Can this be stated in an elevator speech?

You bet! Try talking from your heart about why it’s personally important to you. Don’t just talk about facts or figures like accident rates, lost time work days, near misses or the average costs for injuries. We all have stories we can tell about many subjects. Tell a short story about why safety is important in your life and how safety has affected you, personally. Yes, also talk a little about the business situation and benefits. However, your listeners will mostly remember why you care.

Could this information help your organization’s culture to drive safety excellence?

How have you gotten people excited about and dedicated to safety excellence? Add your comments or questions in the comments section below.

Browse other Machine Safety Blog posts at https://www.controleng.com/blogs/machine-safety.html 

Related articles are below. See links at the bottom or search for the articles atop www.controleng.com.

Machine Safety: Is your safety culture a top-down approach?

Machine Safety Culture: Compliance versus cooperation driven

Machine Safety: Where do effective safety cultures roost?

Contact: www.jbtitus.com for "Solutions for Machine Safety."