According to Steven Bell, senior associate with law firm Freehills, in January 2012 the new Australian OHS laws will expect companies to drive safety management internally and push greater alignment between key messages and action.

The new laws will introduce a level of personal responsibility that will help drive the changes needed for better OHS.  This means that senior managers will be expected to foster a positive workplace culture, receive regular safety reporting and a practical understanding of what is happening on the ground.

This is a great step forward as senior management actually drive the safety culture of a company.

Currently, most companies promote a safety culture, but send out mixed messages when it comes to a safe workplace.  For example: A fairly standard grumble by many workers is that they are expected to work safely, yet at the same time they are told to work faster or in a way that involves safety risks, to drive productivity.

So with the new requirement to promote safety messages and show evidence of a positive safety culture, what is the best way to communicate workplace safety messages?

With any communication program, it is important to take into account that people absorb messages differently and the more they see it, the more likely it will be taken on-board.  Therefore, any workplace safety communication messages need to include a variety of communication approaches such as posters, training videos, staff newsletter and ‘toolbox’ talks.  They all need to be branded with the company’s unique safety messages.

In addition, the workplace safety communication must be personalised to the company.  Generic safety messages won’t cut it.  Instead, it needs to be formulated according to your culture and demographics.  And then it needs to be followed up with action.

A lot of companies that we have worked with have successfully used a customised training video as the main communication medium to drive OHS behaviour change. They have then supported the training video with posters, newsletters and other safety specific materials.

A staff training video is an ideal way to connect with staff.  Made correctly it will positively and believably demonstrate your company commitment to the healthy and safety of your workplace.  After all, research has found that training videos are more persuasive than written material which is perceived as less important and credible.

In order to take into account the new laws, consider creating a customised training video that includes:

• An introduction by senior managers talking about the importance of safety to the staff and company.
• Safety rules/explaining that poor safety effects the viewer and other workers
• Procedures
• Summary

Of course, just playing a training video doesn’t automatically ensure that staff will know your training messages.  It needs to be followed up with a consistent workplace culture that always considers the safety rules/message in every activity.  Not just when played on a training video.

More importantly, senior management must support and agree with all the safety communication tools.  And refer to them often.

After all, staff won’t believe that the company backs its safety messages, until they see the proof of action.

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There comes a time when any forward-looking company needs to change strategy.  And it can be anything from a totally revamped business model to a new way of selling, manufacturing, a workplace safety procedure or even staff training.

While developing the right strategy is important, it’s being able to execute that strategy and get all staff members on board that is paramount.

All workers need to align with the new strategy and embrace it, in order for the company to move forward.

Of course, change requires people to move out of their comfort zones and work differently.  So when companies poorly execute a new initiative among staff, resentment and distrust can emerge.  And the results can be disastrous.

According to W.Chan Kim and Renee Maborgne the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy, when Merrill Lynch announced plans to launch an online brokerage service, reports of resistance and infighting among staff led to the stock price falling by 14%.  But when Stanley Dean Witter & Co explained openly to their staff about their new online plans, the company’s shares rose by 13% upon their announcement.

In Blue Ocean Strategy, they believe that any new company initiative needs to be introduced to all levels of staff (not just senior management) by a three step process.

1. Engagement – Allow all workers to have input into the strategic decisions that affect them by asking for their feedback.  This shows respect for staff and their ideas.  It also can contribute to better strategic decisions.
2. Explanation – Everyone who is involved is given a clear explanation of the thinking underlying the new decision.  This is to build trust in regard to management decisions.
3. Expectation clarity – Once the strategy is finalised, managers clearly state the new rules of the game.  Goals and targets are set. Expectations for staff are clearly communicated.

So how do you get staff buy-in to a new company initiative or strategy?

Recently, we produced a training video to communicate to architects the need to introduce Compulsory Professional Development (CPD).  Due to the controversial topic, the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV) was undertaking a series of consultative talks throughout Victoria to explain to architects the need for CPD.

Luckily for ARBV, their forward thinking registrar decided to get a video made to introduce CPD at the start of each meeting.

It was a smart move.

The educational video explained:

-the reasons CPD was required (explanation)

-the benefits to the community (explanation)

-the benefits to architects (expectation clarity)

-the negatives (explanation)

-the opportunity for input (engagement)

-CPD requirements for members (expectation clarity)

“The CPD video has been able to simplify quite complex information and present it in a clear and logical way.  It’s a short video, but very comprehensive.  Architects are visual learners and, like most of us, tend not to be good at reading large chunks of text.  We introduced the concept of CPD in an innovative video format that no other jurisdiction in Australia had done before.  It resulted in our members more easily accepting the proposed CPD concept and ensured that the meetings were pleasant and ran smoothly.

Alison Ivey, Registrar, Architects Registration Board of Victoria

By covering the three step process, members accepted the new proposal and there were no angry outbursts.  You can read more about this or see the video by clicking here.

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