Have You Looked At Your Communication Channels Lately
Modernize Your Safety Communication to Reduce Injuries
The communication landscape has changed dramatically, but many workplace safety programs are still stuck in the past. If your safety messaging hasn’t evolved with your workforce, you are failing to manage risk effectively.
Today’s employees expect communication that is direct, relevant, and respects their intelligence and time. Outdated, one-size-fits-all safety lectures and generic memos are no longer effective. To get your team to listen and comply, your communication must adapt.
Why Traditional Safety Messages Fail
Workers will ignore safety messages they feel are not designed for them. An approach that feels condescending, generic, or wasteful of their time will be dismissed. To connect with a modern workforce, your safety communication must be:
- Relevant: Tailor the message to the specific audience. Consider their experience, age, and past injury history. A new hire needs different information than a 20-year veteran.
- Concise: Keep messages short and to the point. Electronic messages should be scannable on one screen. Meetings should be brief and focused only on what employees need to know to perform their jobs safely.
- Respectful: Today’s workers expect more autonomy. Your communication should treat them as partners in safety, not subjects of a lecture.
Build a Culture of Safety Through Better Communication
Adopting a modern communication style is about more than just delivering information—it’s about building a culture where employees are actively engaged in their own safety.
Automate Safety is an excellent tool to help you do this.
Start by asking open-ended questions. Show your team you sincerely care about their well-being and demonstrate that you are listening to their concerns. This builds trust and makes employees more receptive to your guidance.
A Critical Application: Incident Investigations
Nowhere is this shift in communication more important than during an incident investigation. The old way of investigating often feels like an exercise in placing blame, which causes employees to become defensive and uncooperative.
This approach is counterproductive.
Shift your focus entirely from blame to prevention. Frame the investigation as a collaborative effort to understand the root causes of the incident. When communicating the results, focus succinctly on the big picture: what systemic failures allowed this to happen, and what specific steps will be taken to prevent it from happening again. This places attention where it belongs—on creating a safer workplace for everyone.