| | NOVEMBER 20228IN MY OPINIONBritt Howard, Group Director, WorleyByMuch has been written about effective communication, but my preferred definition is the sharing of information between two or more individuals in which the intended information is properly transferred. In the safety space, effective communication is profoundly important, and the cost of ineffective communication is high. If the sharing of information is not clear, mishaps, accidents, injuries, and deaths can happen. Communication is part of every phase of a work family member’s job experience even before the person joins the company. Consider:Job Description – The job description that alerts the candidate to the opportunity should include safe working expectations as the start of setting the foundation for the organization’s safety culture.From my 30 years of experience, the best job descriptions include information about the hiring company’s safety culture to help identify the suitability of the candidate to the culture.Interview – The interview should include discussion points on the candidate’s personal safety experiences, philosophies, and special safety capabilities (e.g. First Aid Provider Certification). The interview is also an opportunity for the interviewer to share the company safety culture and values and to ask questions about how safety situations have or would be handled by the candidate. Asking the right questions and listening to how a candidate responds help to set the tone for the company’s safety expectations and to identify the right people.Onboarding – The start of a new job is perhaps the greatest opportunity to make an impact and ingrain the safety culture onto a new work family member’s mind. Discussing safety expectations, processes, and behavioral norms should be part of new work family member onboarding. Along with other company policies, fundamental safety training is provided at onboarding because that is part of creating that first impression for the new work family member about the company. Onboarding is one of the most significant experiences that a person will remember in their work life. I can remember the first day and first week for all my roles.On the Job training – On the Job Training (OJT) is important because it takes what a new work family member learned in the onboarding program and makes it applicable to what happens in the actual work place. I remember being onboarded as the Director of HSE for an oil and gas contracting service company that included my predecessor sharing all of their knowledge and learnings with me to support my success. Effective communication includes making clear what is expected and what isn’t.Scope of work – Aligning discussions on what work is to be done is very important no matter the work (e.g. simple – complex). Who, What, Where, How, When, and especially the Why, are very important. Getting alignment and understanding on the scope of work does not happen on its own. Completely aligned scope of work happens by design through job descriptions, contract agreements, standard operating procedures, signs or labels, collaborative meetings, conversations, work permits, and at the job verbal checks and last minute safety assessments. The first thing I’ll ask for during job safety assessments, accident investigations and EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN THE SAFETY SPACEBritt Howard
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