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| When Communicating Safety, Keep Statistics Simple |
Okay, here are some numbers:
From 1996 to 2000, the top five accident types for Company A in the field servicing sector were:
struck by -16%
motor vehicles -11%
falls from same level - 11%
falls from elevation - 10%
and musculoskeletal - 22%
Meanwhile, Company B in the drilling sector reported these figures:
struck by - 16%
falls from elevation - 22%
caught in object - 10%
and musculoskeletal - 22%
Now, without looking, can you repeat all but a couple of those statistics accurately? Probably not. No doubt they left an impression, perhaps even a surprise, but by the time you got to the last one it was time to move on. No more numbers!
Statistics can be made to do all kinds of things, including bore people to distraction, which is the last thing you want to do during a safety meeting. Reeling off endless facts and figures won’t give your audience what it wants and needs. People aren’t going to respond enthusiastically to pure information; they want to know why it is significant and how they can use it.
That’s not to say you should never use statistics. Far from it. Presented sparingly and well, they definitely can help get your message across.
The most common way to make statistics more interesting is with graphs, bar charts and the like. But don’t expect these to do the entire job. Some people have difficulty spotting the trends these illustrations are supposed to show.
Also, unless there’s an important reason to give exact numbers, round them out. For example, 64% can translate into “nearly two-thirds”. And drop the decimal points. “Slightly more than half” can be a lot more digestible than 53.2 percent.
Here’s another suggestion from well-known safety training expert Richard Hawk: “Whenever you use statistics in your presentations, think of how you can make them meaningful for your audience. Rather than simply reciting the fact that, say, 50% of North Americans will experience at least one bout of serious back pain in their lives, divide your group in half, somehow indicating one side to be back pain sufferers.
“Break down your lost-time incident rate to show how much it increases the chances of a person in the room getting seriously injured when it rises. That way, employees will realize that the ‘numbers’ can affect their life and happiness.”
In short, doing the math is fine. Just make sure it works for everyone.
To be an effective safety leader, you need to be able to arouse enthusiasm in your crew—enthusiasm for working safely and well. And that means you need to be able to communicate effectively. SafetySmart has hundreds of tools and tips to help safety supervisors and safety trainers deliver relevant, meaningful and memorable safety materials and meetings.
Need access to additional resources on this topic? Try SafetySmart today and get immediate access to safety talks, presentations and more. Sign up for a free 14-day trial now. |
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| Safety Training - Fast Reports with SafetySmart! |
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Join thousands of safety professionals who rely on SafetySmart, sign up now for your 14-day no cost trial! |
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| Ice is good for a lot of things, from reducing swelling from a sprained limb to chilling drinks. However, from a safety standpoint, using it in this application definitely isn’t cool. Someone decided to use ice to cool electrical equipment after breakers kept tripping because of excessive power demands in a US campground on a hot day. (Naval Safety Center)) |
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| NIOSH Gives Guidance on Reducing Noise Hazards for Call Center Operators |
Workers at call and dispatch centers may suffer hearing damage as a result of high noise level exposures through their headsets. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has released recommendations to help workers deal with this problem.
According to NIOSH, call and dispatch center workers face:
- Acoustic trauma from sudden spikes in noise levels, such as feedback into a headset.
- Background noise from incoming calls, and
- Background noise from other workers and equipment, such as air-conditioners or heating systems.
NIOSH says many workers face exposure to noise levels between four and 18 decibels (dB) higher than the recommended exposure limit of 85 decibels, A-weighted, over an eight-hour average.
Many call center/dispatch workers interviewed by NIOSH reported ringing in their ears, headaches, irritability, increased tension and fatigue as a result of frequent exposure to loud sounds.
Workers who experience tinnitus (ear ringing), a dulled sense of hearing or fullness in their ears after a shift should speak to their supervisor and ask for advice.
NIOSH also recommends that workers:
- Avoid setting the volume control beyond the midpoint.
- Ask to try different headsets with improved protection or noise-canceling features.
- Clean and maintain their headsets periodically and replace them when they notice damage or decreased performance.
- Take advantage of breaks in quiet areas whenever possible.
- Ask co-workers to use lower volumes on sound-generating devices.
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Related story: Inaccurate Assumptions about Hearing PPE Can Hurt Your Workers
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| Join the online community of safety professionals |
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