The 80/20 Rule, The Pareto Principle, may be the exact reason you can't seem to hit Zero in safety and consistently hold it there. What you might think is the problem, is not actually the problem.

Safety is not something you do or manage; it is the result of five things done right. Unfortunately, the focus for achieving Zero has historically been solely on the OH&S part. But it is only one-fifth, or twenty percent, of what needs to be addressed.

Safety managers and safety supervisors complain that their employees won't buy-in to safety. They also complain about employees' lack of engagement and a lack of accountability in the safety program.

Safety incidents are on the rise. Workers are getting hurt because of decisions they make. Oh, sure, safety managers try to reduce the numbers of incidents through compliance but compliance alone doesn't work. If it did, every workplace would already be at Zero and stay there all of the time. So, more compliance is obviously not the answer.

Make safety buy-in about what your employees can gain, not what they have to lose.

We don't buy-in to a financial plan because of what we might lose. We don't buy-in to a healthy lifestyle because of what we might lose. We don't buy-in to personal development because of what we might lose. We don't buy-in to going to university because of what we might lose. But safety is focused on reminding workers of what they might lose if they don't comply - instead of showing people how safety buy-in makes life better.

Before you plan your next safety meeting, ask yourself if your intent is to scare your workers into compliance.

Do you want them to be afraid, or to get them to voluntarily buy-in to safety as a personal value?

When marketing of safety goes up, safety-incident numbers go down.

Plain and simple, this works. Raise awareness of safety, sell the idea of safety and you will increase safety results. People choose safety when asked to.

Never in history have there been more safety professionals in the workplace. Never in history have there ever been more certifications in safety. Never in history have the rules of the OH&S Act had more teeth. And yet, workplace incident numbers continue to rise. And there is a reason.

Engagement is the biggest problem in the workplace today. The surveys tell us that 71% of employees are NOT fully engaged. And it's not just Gen Y - they only account for 15% of the workforce forcing you to explain the other 56% to make it add up to 71. Stop kidding yourself. The problem is not just young workers.

Advertising is a one-way street: outward. It talks at us not with us. Memos and surveys at work are one-way communication. There is no conversation. There is no engagement. Because to build engagement, especially in safety, requires a relationship.