Being safe while alone on the worksite is a matter of values.
The concept is called self-management, and it’s a process in which lone workers, or those who are on an island working independently from others with no team members or supervisors in close proximity, are able and willing to self-accountable, self-observant and self-aware about how they work so they are meeting the maximum expectations of safety when no one is around to check them.
Judy Agnw, Cloyd Hyten and Bart Sevin combined on an article in a recent issue of Professional Safety magazine that addresses lone workers and the concept of self-management. This is the third post of the series that summarizes and analyzes the article; the first post introduced the real challenges behind lone workers and their work, and the sedond looked into the mentality of the lone workers and the various obstacles to them doing their job effectively.
The Motivation of Change
It is true that many lone workers are very experienced in their line of work and thus have not usually required supervisors or teammates to monitor their work; they are usually safe and incidents are pretty rare. So what could possibly be gained from implementing a self-management program with these workers? The bottom line here is that there is always a risk of an incident, even if it is unlikely.
But if the lone worker has all the safety protocols, processes and tools in place for him to be and remain safe throughout his shift, and he feels safe, why would he or she even want to change anything, or how could he or she be open to change – even if it’s relatively microscopic? After all, any change takes time and effort, and self-management is a thoughtful exercise and not something to be done by rote.
What two factors seem to mean the most in inspiring change?
Immediate, and/or certain, consequences. Both can be ideal, but at the very least there should be one or the other. This is about putting these workers in a position to make a choice between something that may well happen by taking this action, versus not knowing what will happen by not taking the action. Whether the consequence is positive or negative may be relevant as well.
Think about it in your own life. Are you more likely to take an action with a certain, positive consequence, than taking an action that could have any number of consequences, including negative ones? And are you more likely to take an action that will have an immediate result than one that will take weeks or months to be realized?
The goal of self-management is to understand a worker’s basic values and to sell them on an immediate, positive consequence for change that will have long-term benefits for them. The push comes in helping them align their values with what they envision for their lives in the future, and convincing them that the time and effort it takes to implement self-management in the short-term is worth the gains that will come months and years down the line.
Looking to Self
one of the secrets to understanding how a self-management system will work with loe workers is to know each of the lone workers as individuals, and for them to know themselves. This is how you learn about their values and can get them to achieve change and buy into it.
Have your workers do a self-assessment of their particular job and their work environment, and be honest about challenges they face and their behaviors and actions while on the job. As a supervisor or safety officer, you do a disservice by handing out a boilerplate list of actions and behaviors.
Every worker, even six of them that have the same job, are different; they have different environments and personalities and values that go into their work, and it is up to you to get specific with each worker and help them understand their challenges and how you can best address them in a way that their change is more subtle and easy to attain.
In the next post, we’ll look into hazard assessments and their role in self-management, and self-management programs and their role in the workplace.