“We have good processes… If we could just get people to follow them we would be fine”.
Common rhetoric heard from risk and H&S managers. So why is it that many companies find their accident rates remain stubbornly resilient? You can increase risk awareness programmes, make them multi-media and add all the bells and whistles you want, but your H&S strategy will never be robust if you don’t address the people element.
Personal Responsibility is more than Blind Obedience
There is frequently tension between those who regulate and those who deliver, and even a whiff of hostility. At the core of these strained relationships is a moral conviction about what ought to happen and what people should do. But blind obedience is not the same as personal responsibility. Control and command approaches and disciplinary enforcements will only get you so far. Improved compliance depends on recognising and addressing the important personality differences identified in Risk Type.
Introducing the Risk Type Compass®
The Risk Type Compass® provides personality based assessment of the way individuals perceive and handle risk and make decisions. Based on a robust core of global psychological research, it places individuals into one of eight easy to understand Risk Types.
This graphic plots the Risk Type position of team members.
THE SOLUTION
Ultimately ‘..safety is a choice. At some point, you have to make a decision how you’re going to do a particular job.” Tom Harvey (Certified Safety Professional).
Risk Type insights enable employees to understand their risk personality and its implications. Appreciation of specific strengths and blind spots in their natural disposition towards safety enables them to take ownership of their behaviour; to take personal responsibility for their actions. The aim is to facilitate a pro-active safety culture based on mutual respect and co-operation.
“In place of conflict” this approach;
- Focuses on measurable personality differences that have a direct impact on safety behaviour
- Identifies the individualistic challenges faced by employees to make H&S personally relevant
- Gives risk awareness training a personal relevance and a new ‘person centric’ vocabulary
- Re-energises communication, co-operation and personal responsibility as drivers of Risk Culture change