Safety conversations

We invite you to learn more about the Safety Conversations project. It consists of a 4-hour workshop for line managers conducting conversations, a 6-hour workshop for HSE staff on supporting line managers, and a one-day evaluation observation one month after the project.

The training workshops will allow participants to experience how to create opportunities for jointly building a safety culture. Based on adult learning models (Driscoll’s Cycle) and focusing on both short- and long-term consequences, they will not only better convey the idea of workplace hygiene but also help create an environment where people take care of each other’s safety.

The training program consists of a 4-hour workshop for line managers conducting conversations, a 6-hour workshop for HSE staff on supporting line managers, and a one-day evaluation observation one month after the project.
The program is aimed at managers and line managers who, while being aware of the importance of safety, face the challenge of instilling the same conviction in their subordinates. Their main opponents are routine, focus on results, and the drive for effort optimization among employees.
The workshops are based on BBS (Behavior-Based Safety) practices. During the 4 hours, participants will repeatedly practice conducting 5-minute safety meetings, intervention conversations, contracting safe behaviors, and developing team habits.
Due to the need for high interaction, leader training will be conducted in groups of around 10 participants. On a single day, workshops for 2 groups will be combined.
One separate day will be dedicated to HSE staff and designated managers. During this session, methods of organizational support for line managers in changing the safety culture will be practiced.

The project will be evaluated through a specialist’s visit combined with observation of selected participants during meetings and daily safety-related interactions. There is also the option to purchase additional days of supervision from our specialist.

Module 1: Safety Conversations – in groups and individually

The workshop will begin with an introduction to Bradley’s Curve model, identifying the current stage in the organization and its consequences for building a safety culture. Participants will learn the basics of habit loops – the formation of routines leading to unsafe behaviors. They will learn how to identify and disrupt them.
They will learn the basic ways adults learn (Driscoll’s Cycle) and how to apply it in the field of safety. They will identify the main limitations of safety discussions – based on prohibitions and sanctions, presenting negative consequences, and using statistics. They will practice asking questions about the short- and long-term effects of unsafe behaviors and contracting for safe work. Both areas will be used to practice the intervention conversation model and, more broadly, to explore the method of building habits in safe work practices (the safety triangle).
The workshop will conclude with the development of individual safety commitments, which can be verified within the following 30 days.

Goals:

• Bradley curve
• good safety practices
• proximate effects and further effects
• triangle for safety
• Dirty Twelve
• principles of behavioural language
• legal and civil responsibility
• talking about consequences
• assertive refusal
• implementing change – force field analysis

Topics:

• participants will receive forms for conducting behavioral audits for designated positions,
• participants are familiar with the methodology for recording and using audit observations,
• participants are aware of the ways of conducting and communicating audits,
• participants know how to conduct audit interviews in both abstract and directly job-related situations.

Module 2: HSE Staff and Management

The workshop will be a practical exercise in supporting changes in safety culture. Part of the training will take place in the classroom, and part on the production floor during authentic safety conversation situations.
Participants will practice observing key behaviors and providing feedback on them. By asking generative and hypothetical questions, they will learn to stimulate reflection and planning in their interlocutors, enabling them to learn from experience. These elements will be practiced in a production floor setting.

Later, participants will explore models for supporting a team through change and the specifics of sources of resistance to safety-related changes. They will develop methods to address these sources of resistance and tools to motivate leaders to engage with safety issues.

Goals:

• Understanding the dynamics of building a safety culture
• Practicing observation in the context of conducting safety conversations
• Understanding the dynamics and methods of supporting change
• Learning ways to deal with sources of resistance
• Developing methods to motivate leaders and employees to engage in safety-related changes

Topics:

• Participant observation
• Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of colleagues
• Stimulating reflection and action planning in interlocutors
• Supporting the change of safety culture
• Dealing with resistance to change among leaders
• Motivating the team for safety