Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1187254
WEEKLY EDITION AUGUST 28, 2019 Building a Culture of Safety Part II: Co mm un i cat io n By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director • Keep your communications simple. One safety message at a time, simply and directly stated, is more likely to be heard and understood. • Be as precise as possible. Use concrete language and examples to explain what you mean so that you leave no room for misinterpretation. • Be concise. Say only what needs to be said to get your point across. A lot of extra words will only confuse the issue. • Demonstrate when appropriate. Employees generally learn better and retain more of the safety information they see and hear. • Repeat your message as needed. Studies show that a safety message often needs to be repeated on several different occasions to get through to employees. Watch out for communication barriers. Numerous obstacles can cause safety-related communication to break down. For example: • If too much information is being communicated all at once, it can be hard for employees to absorb all thos e different messages at one time. Prioritize and focus on the most important things, then work your way through the list. • If your message lacks clarity, is confusing or ambiguous, what a worker actually hears might be quite different from what you intended to say. Be sure to use interactive communication – have the employee either repeat what they heard to you, describe how they would implement what they heard, or take a short quiz about it. If you find your communication missed the mark, clarify. • If expectations are not clearly defined, you may be unpleasantly surprised by the results. It is important t o know and express what you expect to happen as a result of your communication. Then inspect what you expect – follow up to be sure your required procedures are being implemented in the field. PAGE 12 CONTINUED ON PAGE 13