Riskex Reflections on a Friday #5: How to Start a Safety Conversation

Every day, safety conversations take place between executives and managers, between safety professionals and workers, and—most importantly—between front-line supervisors and the workers who report to them. These conversations have great potential for improving workplace safety and health.

“Having Better Safety conversations is key to ensuring your employees have a “safety voice” at work.”

OSHA (Occupational Health & Safety Administration, part of the United States Department of Labor), has curated a comprehensive guide to help business leaders start the safety conversation. It’s a meaty document and our key takeaway is the power of storytelling in reinforcing safety messages.

We also found the COIN method as a way of providing constructive feedback insightful.

The COIN Method in Summary:

C Connect: Find common ground between the feedback receiver and the feedback topic.
O Observations: Make specific, accurate descriptions of the observed behaviour.
I Impact: Describe the consequences of the behaviour.
N Next steps: Partner with the person to develop an action plan or behaviour change to improve workplace safety.