The little league baseball team lost all but one of its games. They were overjoyed when, at the end of the season, all the players got a plastic trophy for participation. After the ceremony, one little boy accidentally broke his trophy then cried all the way home. The plastic trophy was special because it represented the hard work he’d done trying to help his team win. The participation trophy may not seem like much, but at least he had to show up and “work” to get it.
It’s different in safety today. You can get a trophy, but you have to do more than show up at the awards ceremony; you have to do the right things right.
Winner’s wreath
In the early days of Olympic sports, there was one winner and that person got a wreath placed on his head. It was a symbol he was the best — a champion. He had bragging rights, and until he was beaten, he remained the victor and maintained immortality. He sacrificed, competed and did what was necessary.
In construction safety, all can win. Winners are those who complete their projects without sacrificing workplace safety for early completion or for production bonuses. Winners are those who prescribe to job and task planning. It is those who involve and engage employees to be more than laborers. Winners are those who care for individuals and maintain values for gainful employment. Winners have employees who will come back tomorrow and for the next project.
Happy losers
A coach told me happy losers are consistent losers. In safety, if you are happy and satisfied with average and hurting only a few workers from time to time, you are not ready for the winner’s circle. Happy losers consistently get people hurt. The process is a cycle that must be fixed. It’s a culture and safety system that is broken because of leadership. To allow injury, leaders are allowing safety to remain a priority and priorities change like weather in the South.
The priority box
The priority box contains cost, schedule, production and materials. Safety does not belong in the box. This may be a novel thought because most companies, even some that are well known, say, “Safety is our first priority.” Those companies have it wrong. Safety cannot be a priority. If it were, it would be like telling workers, “I’m interested in you being safe some of the time. But sometimes you can be unsafe.” How preposterous. No prudent loving parent would put a child at risk and allow them to be safe sometimes. Similarly, no prudent employer should allow a worker to be in harm’s way or work at risk. The culture is broken first at the top since leaders are the decision makers. Laborers don’t make company policy and have little to do with the direction the employer takes toward a zero injury culture. Workers will be as safe as company leadership wants them to be. A company’s safety record reflects leadership from top management to line leadership. If a company desires zero injury, a company will do whatever it takes to prevent at-risk behavior, and they will do planning that identifies and eliminates hazards and will never allow employees to work without leaders trained in the techniques of zero injury.
One of my managers had a sign on his desk that read, “Don’t tell me about your efforts; show me your results.” He was right. Saying “I tried” is a cop-out. Good leaders are leading good followers who are safely planning the next project, the next building, the next excavation or the next electrical installation. We want bragging rights for a great project done safely. We want our people to complete their assignments without injury.
Our trophies are made of steel, concrete, wiring, insulation, dirt and asphalt. We earn our trophies in America’s plants and facilities. We don’t just want to participate; we want to be victors. We’ll wear the wreath of champions because we did what mattered. We did our job with zero injury and left no victim on the battlefield. We came home with the gold. And, we’ll do it again by doing whatever it takes to prevent the next at-risk behavior.
For more information, contact HASC Customer Relations at (281) 476-9900, Ext. 2910 or visit www.hacsc.com.
