HEALTH, SAFETY, AND PERFORMANCE AT WORK — IS IT A JUGGLING ACT?
There is often a distinct trade-off between performance and safety that is present in many organizations. The upper echelons of organizations are staunch in their approach to safety: Safety IS First! However, the vast majority of the time this message is poorly translated as it makes it way to the ‘shop room floor’. This first became abundantly clear to me from a consulting project for a major Oil and Gas company. In discussions with upper level executives and managers, I routinely heard the message that safety IS first and foremost — always! However, when I held similartalks with employees who worked on the oil rigs, I found that they heard the corporate message, Safety IS First, butthe actual message they more readily heard and followed was from their immediate supervisor. The immediate supervisor’s message was a more daily message and can be encompassed in two words: ‘hurry up’. If you were in such shoes, what would you do? You are on the job to perform at a high rate and are rewarded (e.g., continual employment, financial bonus) for completing assigned tasks in as short of a period as possible. Do you ‘hurry up’ as suggested by your immediate supervisor or do you follow safety protocol that upper management supports? If you are the manager, what would you be telling your employees? This isthe dilemma thatisfaced by many employees and managers. As a manager, how can you strive for high performance and high safety and health for yourself and for your employees?
