Safetree 2019 Conference: Partnering for Change
Safetree’s “Partnering for Change” conference in Christchurch was a great opportunity to learn more about the Safetree Contractor Certification initiative which will be the subject of more detailed article. The following paragraphs summarise the highlights of the conference. Key lessons from the conference included:
the importance of reinforcing positive behaviours with genuine recognition.
being wary of filling safety systems with unnecessary clutter.
the risk of presenteeism
Dr Hillary Bennett of Leading Safety, highlighted the power of getting workplace leaders to recognise “positive surprises” within the workplace and communicating these ideas and solutions throughout the organisation. Her thesis is that this is fundamental to building a positive safety culture. The ideas don’t need to be expensive to implement as generally they are practices or behaviours that are already happening. She challenged the audience to move their safety systems from a compliance focus to an engagement focus. The outcome are more resilient systems capable of adapting under varying conditions. Her presentation highlighted the work she had done with crews working for Hancocks Forest Management NZ.
Jono Brent is CEO of Connetics, a utility company responsible for maintaining electricity poles and wires on New Zealand’s South Island. He outlined the work his business is doing to simplify a very complicated safety system focused on addressing a highly regulated business. He was faced with a safety system that was mature and generally supported as “being good”, but diminishing safety statistics. The “stupidity of workers” was identified as a key reason for system failures. Realising that it was not possible to change the people he has focused on improving the engagement of all workers to focus on being actually safe rather than statistically safe. This meant recognising the people in his business as the solution to the problem and trusting them to identify ways to be actually safe. He has changed the conversation with his board from a focus on safety statistics like Lost Time Injury Frequency Rates to stories about the lessons learnt from incident investigations. He focuses in particular on incidents where a serious outcome was avoided by diligence and rapid response. A resource he recommended were the team from Safety Differently.
Keynote speaker, Sir John Kirwan, outlined the challenges he faced with his mental health during his career as an All Black. He warmed the conference up by getting the a roomful of Kiwi forest managers, contractors and safety regulators to dance. A key risk he highlighted was “presenteeism”. A term used where workers attend work in body but not with their minds. In order to do this he outlined the importance to take time out during each day to disengage from work tasks and connect with your colleagues and your own feelings. The tradition of smokos and lunch breaks are important. The dancing at the beginning and the break part way for us all to share 5 free hugs demonstrated how activities like this can change the atmosphere of a room and open people up for more effective communication. Maybe an All Black legend in bright green joggers is also necessary to motivate a room of Kiwis like this…
FISC and FICA ran a very good conference that was well received by attendees and is likely to be the first of many more. It was challenging to reconcile the open and positive atmosphere at the conference with the horrific shootings in Christchurch the following day. Details of the speakers and other resources are available here