There is a fine line between a good safety initiative and a really great one. We’ve come up with five things to get you thinking about how you can make the next step in your safety campaign really count for something.

::1:: Inspiring people saves lives

People in health and safety are unsung heroes. Every day, H&S professionals do things that save lives.  We mention this to remind you what a good job you’re doing. And to point out that a person who is inspired usually achieves better results than someone who has been told what to do.

But inspiring people is easier said than done. That’s why we put so much store by it at Lattitude. And we’re constantly thinking of new ways to help you to be inspirational.

We’re constantly thinking of new ways
to help you to be inspirational

• Our training programmes get people thinking. They use personal insights or new ways of looking at things to punch home safety messages. And the result are gratifying: people come out of our training deep in thought, or in frenetic discussion about how things could be improved.
• We think inspiration and recognition go hand in hand, so we set up the Lattitude Inspiring Safety Awards
• Our website is full of case studies and inspiring real-life stories to get you thinking and to support your own initiatives.

 

::2:: Sharing helps people go home safe

If you work in a competitive business, it becomes second nature to keep things confidential. But in safety you need to break out of that thinking. Because it may be that a way you have found of doing things will help some other organisation reduce accidents. And it may be something they do can help you.

Sharing best practice means more of us go home safe a the end of the working day.

It is a way of making safety training
entertaining and engaging

Here’s an example. Our teamwork training programme All for One — the Meerkat Way has triggered a run of visits to zoos and safari parks.

Blair Drummond Safari Park – Highland Spring
Bristol Zoo – Lafarge
Chester Zoo – Cargill
Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam Zoo) – Shell
Dusseldorf – Ineos Nova

It is a way of making safety training entertaining and engaging. But when you start assessing the risks associated with displaying dangerous animals to the public, it gets you thinking too.

We’d love to know how you make health and safety more engaging so that we can share your story with the world. We are particularly interested to hear from people who have found innovative ways of using our training programmes.

 

::3:: Leadership is for everyone

There’s a misconception in some organisations that teamwork is for the staff and leadership is for the bosses. But this isn’t so. In the best safety organisations, everyone is on the team and everyone is a leader.

Lattitude’s training programmes are structured to help you make the transition to a safety culture where everyone is a leader:

• The Ken Woodward and Jen Deeney series help people understand the profound impact they can have on safety in the way they behave, and the consequences of getting things wrong.
• All for One — the Meerkat Way is about teamwork, moving people beyond rules and regulations so they take responsibility for their own safety and look out for each other.
• Giants of Leadership — the Nature of Safety takes the next big step and gives people the skills to manage safety within their own job and make sure those around them stay safe too.

If you already have good safety practices and your people work as a team, it’s time to take that next step. If you want your organisation to be a leader on safety, give everyone the skills they need to be a safety leader. Have a look at Giants of Leadership — the Nature of Safety. You can watch a preview here.

Have you included leadership for all in your safety programme?

 

::4:: Mixing it up makes it effective

You never know what’s going to catch someone’s imagination. That’s why good training programmes include a mix of different approaches. In our films, you hear from experts, from industry leaders, from accident victims and from the family and friends who are affected by an accident. We offer human experience, expert analysis and alternative approaches to safety.

Good training programmes include a
mix of different approaches

But our training programmes go beyond our films. Each comes as a package including:

• A powerpoint presentation, ready to go.
• Support material and exercises to enhance training.
• Posters, labels and even cuddly toys to keep the training at the forefront of people’s minds.
• Practical guides to implement the training.
• Film extras including insight from safety experts.
• Quizzes and certificates to punch the message home.
• Updates and case studies to refresh the training.

 

::5:: Consistency turns a pebble into a landslide

Roll a pebble down a hill and its effects may go unnoticed. Keep rolling pebbles down the same hill  and you start to build some momentum. Yes, you have to keep at it. But if you want have a real impact, your message must be consistent.

If all the elements of your safety programme point in the same direction you start to build something that is bigger than its parts. But if you operate across multiple sites and around the world, that consistency can be a challenge.

If you want have a real impact, your message must be consistent

 

At Lattitude, we understand the value of a consistent approach and while each of our training programmes works well on its own, they also support and complement one another.

Our biggest success was on the Olympic construction project for London 2012 where Hindsight – the Official Ken Woodward Story and It Will Never Happen to Me (Jennifer Deeney) were used across sites and by main contractors and subcontractors. They helped keep the message consistent and make London 2012 the safest Olympic construction of the modern era.

We also know that a safety programme has to be effective around the world. To date, Hindsight – the Official Ken Woodward Story is available in 38 languages. This means a training programme developed in head office can be rolled out across all your sites and you can be confident in the consistency and the impact of the safety message.