Worley

Telling a work family member “Be Safe” is like telling a spouse “Love You” as they depart in the morning for work. The intention of the phrase is the same. The intention is to softly confirm that the sender of the phrase cares about the receiver. Routine confirmations of care, verbally and non-verbally, go a long way in helping the receivers of the “Be Safe” phrase recognize their importance in others’ lives.

The terms “Be” and “Safe” strongly show assertive compassion for others…

Be – Action verb (do something) control Safe – Without harm (anticipate and recognize hazards)

Other phrases that are similar in intentions include:

• Have a Safe Day – Have a Great Day

• Culture of Caring – Work Family

• Safety First – Love is What Matters

• Do it Safely or Not at All – Work Family Members Are Our Most Important Resource

The most important point of sharing the phrase “Be Safe” and its meaning is the conscious or subconscious influence it can have on a work family member’s decision to take a safety risk. Workfamily members who feel that they are authentically cared about by their fellow work-family will make the right decisions when deciding between doing something safe versus unsafe. The definition that I lean into when I describe Safety Leadership includes the term “influence.” In my opinion, influence means more than motivating others to think, behave, or react a certain way. It includes embracing doing things (e.g., work driving, walking, and others) as a safe habit.

"The most important point of sharing the phrase “Be Safe” and its meaning is the conscious or subconscious influence it can have on a work family member’s decision to take a safety risk"

Think about the last comment, discussion, or hug you had with a family member or friend before something bad happened where you lost the chance to send a message of comfort, care, or love. Taking the opportunity to say “Be Safe” can make a big difference in the way you feel about a situation after an event.

 The routine and authentic sharing of “Be Safe” can and does influence the way work family members see their work life. Hearing “Be Safe” supports a proactive safety culture where safety and health are of the utmost importance to the executive leadership, middle management, frontline leaders, and fellow work family members. The work-family collectively sharing the phrase “Be Safe” amongst one another displays the safetyrelated values, strategy, and tactical approaches to getting things done safely.

When I was a professional firefighter, being safe was a primary focus of how we served the community. Checking our equipment, staying knowledgeable on the latest firefighting response techniques, and being physically capable of serving in our roles safely and effectively were basic to us. Telling each other “Be Safe” was very common and nurtured the family-like work culture that firefighters, police officers, and military professionals develop per the safety risk of the work and dependence on fellow service providers in the safety space. Work families that exhibit care for each other perform better in business and in safety.

The times I have served in companies that did not have a mature safety culture, experienced challenges in the quality of products – and services, suffered an above-average number of injury events, and had a high attrition rate, amongst other negative indicators of an ununified work-family. The authentic sharing of the phrase “Be Safe” could have been used as an authentic strategy to uplift everyone and everything in the company to new heights of success. I have seen this authentic strategic move do just that…. I have witnessed the spirit of “Be Safe” take safety-challenged work cultures from immature to maturing to mature quickly. All good things happen to company work family members when they embrace the culture of “Being Safe” maturely.

I worked at a specialty chemicals plant in the late 1990s that did not perform well in safety from a leading and lagging safety performance indicator perspective. A new plan manager came to the site in 1999, and he changed the way we thought, managed, and lived safely by showing everyone how much he believed we could all work safely. He would routinely visit the work-family members on the chemical processing floor, in the office, and at the smoke shack to connect with them authentically. He did not discuss work unless the work-family member did. He wanted to know about them and their family at home. He would depart these unplanned, informal, and authentic engagements with parting words of safety encouragement like “Be Safe.”

One of the greatest examples of collective safety leadership that I have experienced was with a global engineering and construction company that I served from 2013 to 2018. Our safety program and culture were immature and reactive when I started with the company. New executive leadership and a refreshed safety program that was focused on preventing injuries to the work-family members paved the way for a fantastic maturing safety culture. That maturing safety culture included work-family members appreciating each other and sentiments of “Be Safe” being shared in town hall meetings, videos, and informal conversations. This experience proved the point that safety programs don’t make the safety culture; people and work-family members do.

I currently work with an executive leader who uses “Be Safe” as a departure saying (verbally and written) for her work family members. There are two profound elements of her use of the terms:

1. She uses it in an authentic/I care about you style way.

2. She is consistent with all her work family members in a nurturing relationship way, regardless of position, title, or influence in the company.

Be – Action verb (do something)

Safe – Without harm (anticipate and recognize hazards)

Be Safe – Control hazards that you anticipate and recognize