Safety is too important to be paralyzed by a fear of being judged by your co-workers.
“According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” ― Jerry Seinfeld
Sadly, people are petrified of speaking up, especially on job-sites and in safety meetings. Excuses range from not wanting to be judged, to fearing that what they might say might get them fired to looking stupid. But speaking up need not be something that you fear - if you learn a couple of things about communicating effectively and understanding what some of your co-workers are already thinking … but not saying.
Here are three tips that you can use to effectively speak up in safety and be perceived as more of a safety leader, even if you’re not in management:
1Don’t be critical: If the only reason that you are opening your mouth in safety is to criticize someone else, keep it closed. No one ever comes out looking better because they criticized someone else. Speak positively and for the right reasons. The purpose of speaking up on the job-site is 3-fold:
- Clarify what is expected of you and your co-workers and the expectations of your work. Trust me, not every one of your co-workers is completely clear on what is expected and if someone doesn’t clear it up, you run the risk of endangering your own life as well as those who don’t fully understand. Because people are afraid to look stupid by asking questions, they’ll say nothing and pretend they understand. That’s dangerous.
- Comprehend the processes and procedures and understand what you are supposed to be doing and how you are expected to do it - even if you’ve done the job a hundred times. You’ve seen it in safety meetings: presenters ask if there are any questions and no one says a word - even though there are questions. People don’t want to look stupid so they won’t ask a question that they fear others would think stupid. If one person has a question, you can bet there are others who are not clear. But they’re more afraid of being judged by their peers than they are about getting hurt doing the job. Save them from themselves.
- Collaborate with your co-workers and build a team effort in your job responsibilities. Safety is a team sport (thanks to Katherine Henry for reminding me of that). Make an assumption that if you have a question, others have the same question. No one ever looked stupid because they asked a question that saved a life.
2Speak first: Leaders lead so that followers can follow. It’s a simple question: are you a leader or a follower? Look at your participation in safety meetings and safety discussions. If you are not the one speaking up and asking the questions and clarifying expectations, then you are, by default, allowing others to dictate your results. That makes you a follower. Leaders speak up first so that followers can follow safely. Someone needs to be a leader. Why not you? If you allow others to ask your questions first or to offer the same opinion as some else, the best you can offer is, “yeah, me too.” That makes you look like a follower in safety - not a leader. Leaders speak up first.
3Don’t give away your power: When you allow yourself to be paralyzed by fear of judgment, then you have given away your power. When the judgment of others becomes more powerful than getting crucial information or having your opinions heard, then the fear of being judged or of looking stupid is more important to you than your personal safety. Silence is not golden. Silence is dangerous. Allowing the opinions of others to make you fearful of asking a question or getting clarification means you are cowering in fear of being judged. That makes you a potential risk on the job site. Your co-workers want to work with people who are confident in their abilities. Speaking up at the right time and asking the questions that helps everyone understand are things that courageous and confident leaders do. Those without power mock those who speak up. Choose which side you want to be on.
Safety is too important to be paralyzed by fear of judgment. You should be fearful of being hurt - physically - not emotionally. Emotional scars don’t affect your family’s future, physical scars do. Speak up at your next safety meeting. Develop a safety leadership attitude.
To improve your safety leadership capacity, why not download safety attitude posters to hang in your house as well as your workplace? Be a safety leader.
