Safety's communication skills

SAFETY COMMUNICATION SKILLS

What is communication?

• Communication is the transference and understanding of meaning.

Communication process

feedback

message message messagemessage

Channels of communication

• Verbal communication

• Written communication

• Nonverbal communication

Non-verbal60%

verbal30%

written10%

Communication transmitted through

TONALITY Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight ?

Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight ?Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight ?

It’s not what you say it’s

what you do.Action do speak

louder than words

Communication is

Two Way

Ways of communication

Aggress

ively

Passive

ly

Asserti

vely

How Assertive way in communication will affect safety in workplace?

No one comes to the job

purposely thinking, “Hey, what

can I mess up today?”

Start with the assumption that they don’t know something you know or don’t see something you see

Communicate unsafe action

• Set the stage for the conversation• Avoid offensive and accusatory statements.

– Apologize if needed• Ensure you listen

– Agree where you can• Maintain a non threatening approach• Focus on one core message.• Use comparisons• Share Stories• Encourage individuals to hold to standards• End with Action

Set the stage for the conversation (coach).

• call a timeout and make the job safe. • Reinforce their good work before starting a critical

conversation. • If the feedback can wait until a natural break in the

work, use the break as the time to share what you observed.

• Express care, as no job is so urgent or important that it cannot be done safely.

Avoid offensive and accusatory statements.

Address the inappropriate behavior and not the individual, really understand why the observed behavior occurred. Asking and listening are the only ways to get to the “why.”

Apologize if needed

If for a safety reason you lose your cool, acknowledge it. apologize immediately, get it out in the open and explain why you’re emotional. Many times it comes because we care, so tell the others that.

Ensure you listen

• Lead with questions, not answers.• Engage in dialogue.• Seek to understand, without blame.• Understand others’ perspective.

Agree where you can

Build rapport

Verbalize your understanding

Opportunities to agree

Giving credit where

you can

Maintain a nonthreatening approach

More than 60% of communication is non verbal, body posture, tone of voice, facial expressions and emotional tone convey the meaning behind the words .

Focus on one core message.

The more we whittle down information into a single great idea, the stickier it will be.

Use comparisons

Example:A fully laden forklift weighs five tones. That’s around 3 times the weight of an average car.

Share Stories

They make information easy to understand and create emotional connections. Specially real stories in the same work place.

Encourage individuals to hold to standards

• Why standards are existed (individual point of view).

• Explain the reason behind a standard.

End with Action

• List issue and concerns.• List individuals suggestions• Start resolve it.• Keep individuals informed of

progress.• Advocate for the team

success.

Great safety communication is all about getting people to make changes to their behavior.