Safe and

Secure
c r e a t i n g a p l a c e w h e r e
S A F E T Y H A P P E N S
 This material was produced under grant number

SH-20835-10-60-F-37 from the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.

It does not necessarily reflect the views or policies

of the U.S. Department of Labor, nor does mention

of trade names, commercial products, or organizations

imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Telamon Corporation is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

 Module Content

Creating a Place Where

Safety Happens, consists of
two sessions:

1. Defining SMART
Conversations, and
2. Creating SMART
Conversations
 Module Objectives

By learning to engage in SMART

conversations, participants will
empower relationships and
environments for both employer
and employee. Fear and anxiety on
the job will decrease, confidence in
a person’s ability to do the job will
increase, and the result will be
reduced injuries and incidents and
an improved workplace.
 DEFINING
SMART
CONVERSATION
S
 Defining SMART
Conversations

What is safety culture?

Safety culture is the
environment where the
attitudes, behaviors and
perceptions of all workers
are reflected in the health
and safety of the
workplace.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
HINT: This
One way to would be one of
measure or gauge those times that
those attitudes, you don’t wear
earplugs!
behaviors and
perceptions is by
LISTENING to the
conversations that
take place around
you.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

The types of conversations

that take place in a
workplace where a safety
culture exists are SMART
conversations. We hear a lot
about SMART goals – ones
that are specific,
measurable, attainable,
relevant and time-bound.
SMART conversations are
similar.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

SMART conversations
are defined as goal-
oriented dialogue that
motivates and guides
the participants of that
dialogue into a place of
health and safety.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
The key to creating SMART
conversations lies in a
Remember,
leader’s ability to develop the you can’t
skill set of asking the right move
questions, depositing the right forward, if
feedback , and listening and you are
looking for the right cues. As talking
backwards.
skills are developed, SMART
conversations begin to take
place and powerful things
happen. Soon, it becomes part
of the culture.
Defining SMART
Conversations
Powerful questions open up an
employee’s ability to think.
When communications are
declarative and one-way it has
the ability to shut down thinking.
When a person’s thinking is not
being activated and stimulated it
limits or prohibits their ability to
attend to the task at hand. A
lack of attentiveness results in
increased incidents and loss of
profit.
Which of the following is not an
indicator of safety culture in
the workplace?

1. Attitude
2. OSHA Posters
3. Behaviors
4. Perceptions
Check for Understanding

What is the skill that is important to have

when measuring the effectiveness of
safety culture in your workplace?
Check for Understanding

SMART conversations that move

employers and employees alike in a
forward direction toward health and
safety have what type of orientation?
Check for Understanding

Can you think of a

situation with a worker
where perhaps your
conversation or
dialogue was not
motivating or
directional? How might
you have changed it up
to be more goal
oriented?
Defining SMART
Conversations
You may be asking yourself does it
really matter or is this just a bunch
of hype. Wagner and Harter in 12:
The Elements of Great Managing
wanted to answer that question for
you so they conducted a Gallup poll
of over ten million employees and
managers about employee
engagement to find out. The
answer: EMPLOYEES AND WORKERS
NEED TO KNOW THEY ARE VALUED,
even if they work in a chicken plant.
 Check Yourself

On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being LIKERT SCALE

the highest, how would you rate 1-Chicken is dead.
yourself on the 12 elements listed?
2-Chicken is
running around
Element Rating Element Rating with his head cut
off.
1 7
3-Chicken could be
2 8 doing better.

3 9 4-Chicken is doing
well.
4 10
5 11 5-Chicken is
showing off in the
6 12 marketplace.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
The results of the survey produced 12
elements needed for employee
engagement.

1. They need to know what is

expected.

2. They need to have the materials

and equipment they need to do
the job right.

3. They want to have the opportunity

to do what they do best everyday.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
4. People want frequent feedback
and recognition for a job well
done.

5. It is important for employees to

know that their supervisors care
about them.

6. People need to be encouraged in

their development.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
7. They want their opinion to count.

8. The mission of the company needs

to make employees feel that they
are a part of something important.

9. It is important to know that fellow

employees are committed to doing
quality work.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
10.People like to have someone else
they can call a friend at their
workplace.

11.In addition to being concerned

about their development,
employees need employers to let
them know periodically how they
are progressing.

12.Employees want to be provided

opportunities to work and grow.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
Do you need more
evidence? In a
recent integrative
review of safety
research, safety
culture was found
to be an indicator
of reduced injuries
and illnesses in
the workplace.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
It’s clear. The human factors field
dominates research on occupational
safety.

To help organizations identify job

applicants who are likely to
engage in safe and productive
behaviors, Hogan Assessment
System developed personality-based
scales to predict safety-related
behaviors.
 Defining SMART
Conversations
After many years working with
companies, Hogan discovered a
correlation between an employee’s
personality traits and their tendency
to safety.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

They found that

conscientiousness and safety-
related job outcomes indicated
that individuals who are
inattentive to detail, unreliable
and have difficulty following
rules are – as you would suspect
- more likely to have accidents or
injuries.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

In their research, Hogan found that

employees who possess a compliant
and teachable spirit, exhibit
confidence and stability and are
aware of their surroundings are the
same employees who exhibit safer
behaviors.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

You may not be able to change a

another person’s personality, but if
you can identify traits that influence
safety and work toward developing
the SMART conversations and
strategies that help to encourage and
foster those traits, it serves to reason
that it would have an impact.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

Encourage Compliance

Leadership is responsible for

making employees feel
comfortable sharing their
thoughts about potentially
serious matters with the
assurance that they will be
heard and resolution found.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

Build Confidence

Creating an environment
where strength of character
and human value is placed as
a high priority builds
confidence in workers.
Defining SMART
Conversations

In turn, this confidence

acts as a preventive
measure against the
pressures that arise from
an anxiety filled
workplace that leads to
careless mistakes.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

Model Stability

Do employees and workers know

what to expect from you when you
come out on the floor? The ability to
maintain emotional control while
working is an indicator of a safe
working environment.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

A person who easily loses

their temper is more likely to
have an accident and cause
an injury not only for
themselves but for others as
well. It is your role to model
emotional stability at all
times.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

Create Awareness

Finding innovative ways to create

awareness in an environment where a
worker is tasked with the
responsibility of performing repetitive
tasks for extended period of time is a
challenging one.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

The ability to create

awareness will aid
employees in
completing work more
carefully, avoiding
unnecessary risks.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

Stay Teachable

People who know everything are hard

to teach. Maintaining an open spirit
that allows you to learn new things is
critical for creating a safe
environment. It allows you to hear
and capture valuable information that
may be shared by employees.
 Defining SMART
Conversations

If leaders are not careful they

can slip into a closed mindset
that prevents them from hearing
and valuing what workers have
to contribute. Remember, the
worker is the one performing the
job. Who better to have insight
and give input?
Which trait do you feel you
most exemplify or model?

1. Encourage
20%
Compliance
20%
2. Build Confidence
20%
3. Model Stability
20%
4. Create Awareness
20%
5. Stay Teachable
In which trait or area do you
feel you have the most
potential for growth?
20% 1. Encourage
Compliance
20%
2. Build Confidence
20%
3. Model Stability
20%
4. Create Awareness
20%

5. Stay Teachable
 Which trait, if successfully
modeled and implemented, would
bring the greatest benefit to your
specific work area or situation?
20% 1. Encourage
Compliance
20%
2. Build Confidence
20%
3. Model Stability
20%
4. Create Awareness
20%

5. Stay Teachable
 CREATING
SMART
CONVERSATION
S
 Creating SMART
Conversations

By having SMART conversations,

employers can begin to engage
employees. Asking meaningful
questions and engaging in
powerful dialogue, build the skills
and behaviors that lead to a
culture of safety.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

If you want to determine whether

or not you are creating and
engaging in SMART conversations,
there are certain characteristics
you want to identify.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

1. Position Yourself as a Coach

2. Frame Safety Standards as
Personal Learning Goals
3. Ensure the Conversation is Two-
Way
4. Position the Other Person for
Growth
 Creating SMART
Conversations

Position Yourself as a Whistle not

recommended,
Coach but then again
it gets pretty
Coaching is a great loud in those
processing
leadership tool. It plants.
allows others the
privilege of their own
insights and allows
them the opportunity
to through their own
process.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

Frame Safety Standards as Personal

Learning Goals

Turning standards into shared goals

can help build a spirit of
collaboration.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

Ensure the Conversation is

Two-Way

Building a space into your

relationships for the exchange
of ideas creates buy-in and
ownership.
Creating SMART
Conversations

Position the Other Person

for Growth

Listening and engaging

with another person opens
up the opportunity for
instructional feedback.
 Let’s Practice!

EXAMPLE OF A POTENTIAL SMART

CONVERSATION STARTER

“Winston, I like how you take it

upon yourself to make sure that all
the paperwork is in order; that
tells me that you really care about
the quality of work that you do. I
am going to make sure others
know about your excellent work
ethic.”
 Creating SMART
Conversations

Creating and
facilitating SMART
conversations
require strategies IMPORTANT
and the strategies MESSAGE!
sound a lot like
messages!
 Creating SMART
Conversations

MESSAGE #1 – BE PREPARED

The first and most important

message or strategy is to be
prepared! Take time to develop
powerful questions and look for
opportunities to use them.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

One model for developing powerful

questions is the GROW model. The
GROW acronym stands for GOAL,
REALITY, OPTIONS, and WILL.
Creating SMART
Conversations

GOAL questions talk

about the agenda or
what we desire to
accomplish

Scenario – You over

hear a worker
complaining about
production goals.

“Sal, I understand you

feel the benchmarks
are too high. What
Creating SMART
Conversations

REALITY questions
deal with the starting
point.  

Scenario - A worker
has had repeated trips
to first aid.

“Lois, I see you have

been to first aid three
times in the last
month. Tell me about
the common factors
Creating SMART
Conversations

OPTIONS questions talk about

possibilities.  

Scenario – Someone repeatedly

leaves a pallet jack in the walk
way.

“Betty, I noticed that someone

keeps leaving the pallet jack in
the middle of the walk way.
What would be three possible
ways you would suggest
addressing this so it doesn’t
Creating SMART
Conversations

WILL questions are about

action steps.  

Scenario – Safety audit is

scheduled in three weeks.

“Sam, you know we have that

safety audit in three weeks
and the goal is no findings.
Can you think of any
obstacles that might get in
 Creating SMART
Conversations

MESSAGE #2 – PRACTICE MAKES

PRETTY GOOD

As you work at creating SMART

conversations, you may find that
some of your questions and
techniques need to be tweaked –
that is why we call it practice.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

“He who is
MESSAGE #3 – DON’T BE A most
STRANGER present
wins!”
Workers interpret the
presence of management as
a symbol of how they rate
safety, which supports the
goal of an injury-free
workplace.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

MESSAGE #4 – LET THEM KNOW

THEY MATTER

Taking the time to show

employees that they are valued,
asking them for their opinions
and validating their concerns and
ideas can transform a resistant
workplace into a collaborative
one.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

MESSAGE #5 – TAKE
OWNERSHIP Learning looks
inward, and
By doing your part to Learning looks inward,
make
and makes adjustments;
transform your workplace adjustments;
blaming looks out, and
into a collaborative one, makes excuses.
blaming looks
you communicate to the out, and makes
worker that safety is excuses.
everyone’s responsibility.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

MESSAGE #6 – ACCOUNTABILITY
IS INTEGRITY

Accountability is a welcomed
occasion of any employer or
employee committed to safety
and health.
 Creating SMART
Conversations

MESSAGE #7 – IF YOU MEAN IT,

SAY IT

The level of importance you place

on the information you wish
workers to know, should dictate
the way you communicate that
information.
Check for Understanding

FILL IN THE BLANK

Some of the things you will see in
people who engage in SMART
conversations is that they:
1.Position Themselves as a
________.
2.Frame Safety Standards as
Personal ___________Goals
3.Ensure the Conversation is ______
4.Position the Other Person for
__________
 What is the most important
strategy for engaging in SMART
conversation?
1. Be confident 25%

2. Be on-time 25%

3. Be prepared 25%

4. Be informed 25%
Check for Understanding

SHORT ANSWER

What four words does the GROW

acronym represent?
To Extend Your Learning,
Check Out the Resources
Below
Poultry Processing Industry eTool (
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/poultry/)

North Carolina Department of Labor

Occupational Safety and Health Division, A
Guide to Safe Work Practices in the Poultry
Processing Industry

http://www.oshainfo.gatech.edu/ergo-trainin
g/trainer.html
Susan Harwood Safety
Training Grant Program
Team

Ivy Bonk, Program Coordinator

Debra Stewart, Corporate Risk Mgmt. Specialist
Jennifer Shahan, State Director
Telamon Corporation

Elizabeth Eades-Guerrero,
Regional EHS Manager, Tyson Foods

Sam Fulginiti, Safety Manager

Amick Farms, Maryland

Stephen Ridgell, Program Specialist, MOSH