Safety Committee Basic Training

MODULE 3: HOW TO INCREASE INVOLVEMENT

Introduction

To ensure a high level of motivation in the safety committee, it's important that the committee be composed of both managers and employees who understand their roles and responsibilities, and are interested in its success. It's equally important, if not more so, that the corporate culture support committee activities. But, for one reason or another, companies experience difficulty generating enthusiasm for the safety committee. We'll take a look at the possible reasons for this, and then try to come up with some solutions to the problem.

Perceptions are Reality

There are many reasons that might explain why managers and employees have no interest in a safety committee. Do any of these sound familiar?

1. Why join the safety committee? Who cares? Apathy towards the safety committee is common in many companies. There may be many reasons, but usually its due to some form of non-support or a lack of interest by top management. Lack of top management support is a common complaint forwarded by safety committee members. But, as discussed in earlier modules, the safety committee may want to first reflect on their own ability to carry out their purposes before they "blame" management. Who's going to be interested in attending and actively participating in safety committee activities when those activities may actually somehow threaten a person's job security.




2. I was "volunteered." It goes without saying that safety committee members should be volunteers. We will always be more effective as a group of interested volunteers who are participating because we want to...not because we have to. But, when employees do not volunteer, management feels obligated to OR-OSHA law to do something. Consequently, management volunteers employees as members of the safety committee.




3. We don't have any money. How can we get anything done when management doesn't give us any money to do it. This is a common misconception made by safety committee members. As we learned earlier, safety committees are consultant groups that help develop and implement, but do not need to control safety programs.




4. Meetings are boring. It's the same uninspired gripe session every time we meet. All we do is report hazards to the Chair and the maintenance rep starts writing work orders.




5. I'm not properly trained. We're expected to help in safety, but management doesn't make a commitment to training. Sure, we do the quarterly inspections but we don't really know the specific hazards or how to correct them. It's all just a waste of time.




6. Safety committee duties cut into my busy schedule. Do you think I'm going to attend safety committee meetings when I don't even have time to do what I "get paid to do"? No way!




7. The chairperson hasn't got a clue. The chairperson doesn't get/take the time needed to plan the meeting. Consequently there's no structure to it. He/she doesn't know what to do when things get out of hand. It's all very depressing.




8. One person dominates meetings. The safety manager (or some other person) always gets his/her own way. Why bother getting involved when my opinions or ideas don't count.>

   
   

9. We never get anything done. Sure, we've got some good ideas, but outside the meeting, no one thinks about actually following through. When someone submits a suggestion (don't hold your breath) we take months to finally get it addressed.




10. We're just a pack of watchdogs. And, "snitch" is the name of the dog. People don't trust us. Management expects us to tell supervisors when we see people violate safety rules. Why, we even carry "ticket" books and write citations!

Now, I know you may already have a great safety committee, but I'll wager that at least one of the symptoms I listed above is present to some degree in your company. So, what's the secret to eliminating these objections? Consequences. We do what we do in the workplace because of consequences, not just because someone tells us to do it.

If management "builds it...they will come."

The key to counter apathy and other objections is to design positive consequences into the safety management system, and more specifically, safety committee participation. That means developing a culture that recognizes and rewards discretionary behaviors. Job security is enhanced, not threatened when people participate in safety activities. If you do this effectively, employees will be knocking down the door to join the safety committee.

How does management demonstrate TMC?

Serious Top Management Commitment is serious time, money and concern (TMC)

Real commitment requires that management invest time and money into safety activities. Real concern for safety is expressed formally through the mission statement, policies, job descriptions, and performance appraisals. Commitment is expressed informally through word of mouth: supervisors and managers set the highest examples; they insist that everyone else does also; and they apply appropriate consequences when employees fail or excel. When management expresses a concern for safety, but hesitates or fails to invest time and money, they're demonstrating nothing more than moral support for safety.

How is commitment to the safety committee demonstrated? Here's some ideas:

• Allowing members of the safety committee more than an hour a month to work their safety responsibilities;
• Promoting those who serve on safety committees because they have increased knowledge and skills in safety and health;
• Responding to the recommendations made to correct hazards; and
• Attending (as observers) safety committee meetings from time to time.

Let's get credible

When a safety committee member complains to me that they lack "top management commitment" I hold up a mirror and tell them, "here's the answer to your problem." The cause of the problem may be that the safety committee, through lack of ability or action, lacks credibility.

What does it mean to be credible? A quick look in the dictionary tells us that to be credible means, "capable of being believed: deserving confidence."

So the real question to ask is, what can the safety committee do to increase its believability and confidence in its recommendations?

To be believable, it's important that members of the safety committee have a clear understanding of their role, purpose, duties, and responsibilities. They need to understand where their responsibility ends, and where management's responsibility takes over (helping vs. doing).

Power - increases the ability to influence

People and groups exercise various types of "power" to get what they want. A well-liked leader is able to take advantage of charismatic power to get his or her follows to perform. The non-leader in a position of responsibility may threaten people to influence behaviors. However, to increase credibility, it's important that the safety committee use two other forms of power: expert and position power.

• Expert power. When members of the safety committee realize they play the role of an internal consultant to the employer, they know that their credibility depends on the expertise they bring to the role. How do you gain expertise? By increasing your knowledge, skills and abilities through experience.

  
  Proposing effective recommendations to management is crucial if credibility is to be gained. The most effective recommendations will discuss costs and benefits, talk the "bottom line" to management, and it will offer reasonable options for correcting workplace hazards, unsafe work practices, and ineffective management controls.

  
  

• Position power. Find out who has the ear of the CEO, and you know who has position power. The safety committee has the greatest position power when the Chairperson regularly meets with the person at the top who is making the decisions for the workplace. If the Chairperson meets only with the deputy director for human resources...well, not much position power there.

Communication is the key here. Employees see the safety committee as a communications conduit to management. When an employee informs or makes a suggestion to the safety committee representative, he or she expects to get some sort of feedback soon after. They want to see action. To the employee, it's an immediate need. If the safety committee representative takes the information to the safety committee, but neglects to give the worker feedback, what is the worker to think, but that the safety committee is a bunch of "do-nothings" and a waste of time.

Therefore, to gain credibility with employees, communicate regularly and often with them. If a hazard can't be fixed for a while, let the workers know why. They will appreciate it, even if it's not the answer they want to hear. The safety committee has done its job.

Another good idea is to "brag" about safety committee accomplishments formally and informally. I don't mean that members of the committee should go out and literally boast about how great they are....just let the workforce know about safety committee bottom-line accomplishments, and do so with some excitement and pride.

How can management encourage volunteers?

The answer to that question is simple...and you guessed it...it's done by providing the WIIFM...the "what's in it for me": by rewarding members of the safety committee with tangible and intangible incentives.

Tangible rewards are external. They might consist of monthly merit pay increases or bonuses for taking on additional professional responsibilities. Membership on the safety committee might be recognized informally, with a pat on the back "thanks," or more formally on performance appraisals under "professional development." Management might let it be known formally and informally that it is to an employee's advantage for career advancement to have had experience on the safety committee. After all, doesn't a member of the safety committee gain additional professional skills in communications, meeting management, problem solving, occupational safety and health programs, hazard identification, accident investigation, recommendation writing....etc. That's quite a list. Consequently, safety committee membership should make an employee more qualified for advancement.

Intangible rewards are internal. They might include increased self-esteem, pride, a feeling of satisfaction of a job well done.

Last words

Hopefully you can take the information learned thus far in the course to help your safety committee develop into a real "profit center" activity. If the safety committee is saving or making money for the company, it's paying its way. That's important in gaining commitment from management. More work ahead, but for now let's finish up this module with the review quiz.

Let's Review

21. Credibility is an entitlement that is owed to the safety committee.

a. True
b. False

22. According to the text, what can the safety committee employee representative do to most effectively gain credibility with coworkers?

a. Comply with safety rules
b. Report injuries
c. Provide timely feedback
d. Train employees

23. Safety committees are designed perfectly to produce what they produce.

a. True
b. False

24. Of the items listed, _________ is probably the most significant cause of apathy towards the safety committee.

a. Absence of positive consequences
b. No budget
c. No coffee and doughnuts
d. Inadequate meeting space

25. Having the ear of the person at the top describes _________.

a. charismatic power
b. position power
c. expert power
d. coercive power

26. Having all the answers to coworkers safety questions increases one's ______________.

a. charismatic power
b. position power
c. expert power
d. coercive power

27. Expressing concern for safety without investing time and money most appropriately describes ______________.

a. top management commitment
b. moral commitment
c. moral support
d. top management communication

28. __________ might consist of monthly merit pay increases or bonuses for taking on additional professional responsibilities.

a. Abstract rewards
b. Concrete rewards
c. Intangible rewards
d. Tangible rewards

29. Threatening punishment to gain compliance is an example of ___________.

a. charismatic power
b. position power
c. expert power
d. coercive power

30. A safety committee chairperson that everyone likes is able to take advantage of __________.

a. charismatic power
b. position power
c. expert power
d. coercive power

Answers to the quiz.

Congratulations on completing module three! Employee involvement in the safety committee is so critical. Do what you can to promote that involvement. Now, continue on to the next module to learn more about safety committee training requirements. If you have any questions or comments, just drop me an email at allen.e.freauff@state.or.us.