WHS professionals pursue many typical objectives and comply with similar rules. Whether you are a company owner, a PCBU, a Location Safety Officer, or part of my Occupational Safety Solutions group, we have certain subjects we typically handle, as well as things we seldom talk about. It's those underlying things that I wish to concentrate on today.
Unfortunately, my dad passed away 3 weeks ago, and beyond the sorrow and mourning, his death has me thinking outside the boxes we normally live in. He was an excellent man, and I would've liked him to have had more time to purchase my young boys and myself, however that's not how it played out. He had a long innings, and he batted with strategic singles, significant borders and even had a number of "smacked out of the grounds for six" moments. Death, and specifically his death, has actually got me thinking about much deeper concerns.
We reside in complex and extremely misleading times. In the midst of this, the burdens being placed on companies are increasing, not just demanding more of our resources but also progressively requiring compliance to structures of thinking we and our workers might not constantly agree with. We're being forced off the well-worn paths, tracks and tracks we're used to, and onto side-roads and goat trails and into unpredictable surface.
Do you as a busy person, as I do, battle with balancing work, staff, household and friends? Do you also discover it hard at times to think beyond the apparent and the fundamentals?
3 METHODS OF EXPLAINING WHS
The WHS role can be described clearly, drastically or with street-level bluntness:
Mentioned plainly ... WHS has to do with anticipating what can go wrong, Strategising to avoid it taking place, and assisting keep people safe.
Stated more drastically ... I can metaphorically speak about the snakes of tragedy that are loose in a work environment. The majority of people run from snakes, however safety professionals act in a different way. WHS needs us to prepare for the snake, keep it in view, understand how to respond, train others to do likewise, keep unnecessary snakes out, handle the snakes that are already inside, and prepare for the ones that are birthed every day. It's a huge task!
Stated candidly ... Work Health and Safety activities are about helping business owners cover their arse, adhere to the law and keep their individuals safe.
But these are the WHS parts that are obvious. Let's discuss 3 topics that do not get provided much time.
A NUMBER OF WHS ASPECTS WE DON'T TEND TO DISCUSS
At a surface level, we see requirements, balances, procedures and checks. Underneath these surface behaviours, guiding principles are at work, with duty of care and due diligence leading the way. If we look even deeper, we see a prolonged variety of aspects, motivations, viewpoints and concepts, of which, there are 3 I 'd like to touch on:
1. Ethical awareness,
2. Wrestling with morality, and
3. Allowing and handling emotion,
Consider them as trail guides to help you navigate when federal government, scenarios, or your individuals force you off the well-worn courses that you are used to.
Work Health and Safety INTEGRATES ETHICS
If you've read this far, you most likely currently have an operating ethical compass. You may not have believed much about its application in the safety context. 'Application' is what ethics has to do with. Ethics is the application of morality in a given scenario. To put it simply, morality is a system that tells us what is right and wrong, and ethics is the application of those rights and wrongs in a given circumstance. It can be fairly argued that ethics alter over time, but morality is constant.
Where does this fit in the WHS context? Ethics resembles a path guide that informs you to pick up the speed, decrease, or step carefully. The virtue or morality is in reaching the location; ethics is exercised in arriving properly.
For example, while a lot of workers think it is right to discuss unsafe scenarios (morality), however not all do (ethics). The majority of likewise understand it is right for them to fix a supervisor who is directing them to do something dangerous (morality), however lots of would not follow through on this conviction (ethics). There is often a gap in between morality and ethics and I have a strong suspicion that space was narrower in my dad's day.
The take-away: do not assume that morality is enough, or that the ethical behaviour seen in one work domain will also be evidenced in another. Reliable Work Health and Safety isn't practically what is right; it's likewise about producing a work space where ethical behaviour is the norm. Some of the tips that follow will assist.
WHS IS UNAPOLOGETICALLY MORAL
We have actually currently mentioned that morality is the art of understanding the difference in between incorrect and best, even when the ideal thing is less helpful. Regrettably, various workers have differing principles of right and incorrect. Nowadays, we likewise experience many who think the only right that matters is 'their. It's the moral equivalent of having 'an individual truth' - and in an office safety scenario, that is a disaster waiting to take place.
My old man taught me that right is right and wrong is wrong. Even when it hurts, right stays right, and wrong stays wrong. Our employees may disagree on how right and wrong is decided, however workers need to come together when it comes to Work Health and Safety. It's alright for an employee to know that their viewpoints and their morality have value, however when it concerns safety decisions, in all but the most remarkable of cases, the moral thing to do is what the legislation says to do.
What if a manager, a fellow employee or federal government authority acts, needs or manoeuvres in an immoral way? Plainly, there are times when what is legal is also immoral; for example, both previously and during World War Two the Nazi SS rounded up Jewish, Homosexual and polish individuals for damage.
These days, I am conscious that personal morality varies exceptionally from individual to person - perhaps more than ever previously. That brings a challenge to my office since I require to battle with the ramifications of a morally uncertain truth.
Morality gives none of us a free pass, and I reckon my father's generation understood that much better than we do.
Work Health and Safety INVOLVES EMOTION
There are two groups (or extremes) that tend to dominate when it comes to emotions. One emotional group is passive, while the other is reactive or proactive. The first group, the passive emotions, tend to consist of worry or unpredictability. These emotions trigger hesitancy and trepidation, leading workers to not speak when they should. The second group is marked by emotions like greed, conceit, over-confidence and anger. These emotions get in the way of efficient communication, shut down open conversation and increase the likelihood of mistakes and threats occurring.
What are we to do? The work environment requires all types of personalities, so all these emotions will make an appearance. We require to find a method to handle emotional extremes.
My father's generation was big on personal obligation and just "getting shit done". My generation was more interested in self-esteem and understanding ourselves within a team-oriented context. Today's young people seem to believe the world revolves around their desires, their needs, and their reality.
Possibly there's a winning balance to be discovered in between, and I reckon sincerity is an excellent location to begin. For instance, a team leader can show the way by prefacing his comments to encourage emotional awareness and self-management. :
"I feel a little nervous raising this, however I'm going to ..."
"Wait! Provide me a minute. I'm too f 'n mad and I'm gon na state something we'll both regret."
"I don't mind if you do 'you' in your home. Heck, I do 'me' in your home. When we're here, we do 'us'! Do you understand that?"
WHAT'S THE TAKE-AWAY?
Whatever the specifics of your WHS role, being aware of these 3 underpinning issues will definitely help your results. It seems to me that there is little to lose and much to gain. Ethical awareness, the willingness to wrestle with morality, and emotional responsiveness are all areas of financial investment, not expense.
As we close, you may have kept in mind that I haven't even discussed a product - and I'm not going to. Today, my product silence is my way of walking the talk. What I have actually shared with you is so foundational it is worthy of an undistracted focus.
Occupational Safety Solutions 
