In the past safety was all about don’t do this or don’t do that. Many of our interactions were individuals being scolded for something they’d done wrong rather than praised for something they’d got right.
But words matter….
Dave Alred a legendary British sports psychologist new this all too well. Suggesting that if he told a professional golfer “Whatever you do make sure you don’t hit that bunker” he could almost guarantee that they would do exactly that. It was almost as though all they heard was “Hit that bunker”.
So he adapted his instructions to be more specific, “Target the right side of the fairway with your first shot on the 16thgreen”. Positive, precise and pragmatic.
Similarly, safety cultures thrive when we chose both our words and actions wisely. Accentuating the positive rather than accumulating blame. More helping out than catching out.
At Lattitude everything we do is designed to bring the best side of humanity to workplace safety cultures though our Compliance To Care ™ approach.
Making safety positive, personal and integral to organisational performance.