Never forget who depends on your decisions.

WIN: Why-Invest-Now.

Before the next safety meeting begins, I want leaders to consider a different question: Who is counting on every employee to ensure their families have a future?

The answer does not appear on a safety dashboard. It may be a child waiting at the door, a spouse planning tomorrow, or a parent expecting a call. Every employee has a life beyond the workplace, and decisions made at work can change that life, those futures, in an instant.

That is the Humanistic Side of Safety. I call all executives and leaders to remember it through three words:

Why. Invest. Now.

Why?

Because lives depend on the decisions you make as leaders, ask why safety matters to the people doing the work. Listen when an employee says a task cannot be completed safely as planned. Find out why a concern was not raised earlier or why a written procedure is difficult to follow in practice.

Then ask a harder question: If we say our employees matter, do our decisions show it? When production is under pressure, do we put employees' safety first?

Your why must be strong enough to guide a difficult decision, not just open a presentation.

Invest

Because the lives you invest in affect the family members you don't see. Invest in knowing you're doing everything to protect your employees and the conditions they work in. Provide appropriate equipment, effective training, enough time, enough staff to do the job, supervisors prepared to lead, and an immediate response when someone reports a hazard.

Invest in listening, too. Employees often know where the gap lies between a policy and the work in front of them. Their knowledge has value only if leaders are willing to hear it and act on it.

This investment reaches beyond the employee. It helps protect the future they are building with the people who depend on them.

Now

Because a delay could cost an employee's life and a family's future, are you willing to accept that as the cost of doing business? Don't wait for an injury to reveal a problem employees identified for a while. Don't wait for a serious incident to decide a concern deserves attention.

Ask what needs to change today to protect those tomorrow. Assign responsibility. Provide the resources. Follow up with the employees who initiated the concern. Let them know we heard them, listened to them, and acted immediately.

WIN challenges leaders to know why people matter, invest in their protection, and act now to prevent tragedy.

Through The Humanistic Side of Safety, I help leaders and teams evaluate the distance between leadership and safety. My presentations and workshops bring the human consequences of those decisions into a thought-provoking, engaging conversation, helping participants value their lives and avoid unnecessary, unsafe conditions.

When your next safety decision reaches the executive table, remember whose future may rest on it.

Why. Invest. Now.

So we never forget who depends on your decisions. The loved ones you don't see, don't know, but truly support those who make your organization great every day. You can't put a price tag on their futures.

For more information or to schedule a call, contact David A. Ward, Sr., Founder of The Humanistic Side of Safety: davidawardsrspeaks.com https://scheduler.zoom.us/david-ward-sr/

Originally shared on LinkedIn