We Will Begin Shortly

Transcription

1 Practical Risk Communication For the OHSE Professional or Practitioner We Will Begin Shortly November, 2006 Fred Leafloor, CRSP, CHSC Safety First Industrial Safety Services Regional Vice President, CSSE Atlantic

2 Practical Risk Communication For the OHSE Professional or Practitioner Fred Leafloor, CRSP, CHSC Safety First Industrial Safety Services Regional Vice President, CSSE Atlantic

3 Session Overview Introduction Principles of OHSE Communication Barriers to Communication One Model for Effective Communication Types of Audiences Communications & Organizational Development Messaging Techniques Summary 3

4 INTRODUCTION 4

5 Credit to the gods. Science of Risk Communication Definition Replication Today s Models Dr. Peter Sandman Dr. Vincent Covello Other Credits 5

6 What is Risk? Most definitions of Risk include: A circumstance involving the possibility of suffering harm or loss A combination/manipulation of: frequency of exposure, probability of loss, and consequences of a specified hazardous event The common definitions focus upon the physical effects of risk the Hazard 6

7 Risk Communication A Science-based approach for communicating effectively in: High-Concern High Stress Emotionally Charged, or Controversial Situations 7

8 Risk Communication Risk Communications is a tool with two purposes: Reduce short-term adverse reaction by an audience Engage interest and commitment to take action to prevent or mitigate risk/loss This means that sometimes the task is to reduce the concerns of a group, and other times the task is to raise the level of concern to stimulate action 8

9 Risk Communication What does Risk Communication success look like? Avoiding escalation of the problem Gaining control of the hazard to reduce the impact on people, property, and the environment Working to establish control of the information and build a trustworthy relationship with the involved parties 9

10 Risk Communication There are many models of Risk Communication (Sandman, Covello, Chess, Fischhoff, Greenberg, CPI) We will look at a Sandman energy model that fits within the industrial environment: Hazard plus Outrage We will look at Covello s Message Mapping to plan our communications content and delivery strategy 10

11 PRINCIPLES of OHSE Communication 11

12 Basic Understandings Communications without intelligence is noise Intelligence without communications is irrelevant. (General A.M. Gray, USMC) Just because your message is not understood, don t automatically assume that the fault is with the receiver In communication: Perception IS Reality 12

13 The Human Element Within OHSE, we have not yet stopped loss. In our history we have tried: Engineering efficiency into jobs Creating workplace rules Developing procedures & practices to make the human fit the work Behavioural observation & modification Ergonomic adjustments to make the work and working conditions fit the human Predicting risk exposures and outcomes 13

14 The Human Element We haven t gotten supervision or the workforce to listen, possibly because we haven t sent our message in a language they hear ( self-interest?) Risk communication does not focus upon the logic of the situation, but appeals to what the people feel about the circumstance 14

15 Typical Communications Flow Someone has a non-critical OHSE problem and brings it to the attention of the Supervisor (or the Safety person) Stage 1: The go tell your Mother syndrome kicks in and the Supervisor dodges the question or slides it to the safety representative Person goes away unsatisfied Talks to other workers and receives reinforcement regarding the concern Person stews on it and brings it up again 15

16 Typical Communications Failure Stage 2: The Supervisor / Safety person says I thought I told you about that It is already settled Person retreats still unsatisfied Person stirs up other people about the issue Management hears of the dissatisfaction Stage 3: Management thinks What do they really want? This isn t about safety there is something else going on They look for alternative reasons / blame Commence the witch hunts!! 16

17 Typical Communications Failure Stage 4: The concern with the issue has grown it is interfering with the work Management now says the magic words: FIX IT What do they do?? They throw money at it This didn t need to happen It s part of your job to see it coming It s part of your job to prevent it 17

18 BARRIERS to Communication 18

19 Barriers to Communication To effectively get your message out, you need to be aware that barriers exist and how to get through, or around them You need also to be aware that one of the barriers can be You! 19

20 Types of Barriers Cognitive Organizational Psychological Social / Societal Physical 20

21 Barrier: Cognitive The thinking mind establishes its expectations and fools the senses into believing that the reality mirrors the expectations How many the s? / How many f s? Editing a document just written 21

22 Barrier: Cognitive Symptoms of Cognitive Barriers Isolation from the realities of the situation Apathetic participants and audiences Someone MUST win others must lose Outrage is not real and detracts from the real business of controlling the hazard Acknowledging outrage and taking steps to mange it will increase liability 22

23 Barrier: Cognitive Coping Strategies: Recognize that outrage is not irrational, but has predictable behaviours, much like chemical substances in toxicology Plan early for outrage to arise Establish likely avenues for concern (and develop your technical solutions) Develop the messaging plan (the messages that will satisfy the emotions) Follow the reduction in concern with the hazard control information Make it we rather than them and us 23

24 Barrier: Organizational Will they let me? (resistance to change) Vertical hierarchy Established communications flows Clannish mindset Obvious resistance to communicate: Stonewall Stage (unwillingness / contempt) Missionary Stage (we will teach you) Dialogue Stage (we will speak/listen to you) Organizational Stage (we will change) 24

25 Barrier: Organizational Coping Strategies: Acknowledge that change is needed and may result in a better place Guide the organization through the stages of communication Rewards and punishments suited to reach the established goal (act like you mean it) People learn/practice the required skills Start with small projects/examples 25

26 Barrier: Psychological Will I let me? (resistance to change) Maslow got it Right!! we are esteem animals and we resist doing what does not feel good We do not like to be questioned on our expertise or skills (we ignore it or hit back) We must not show that they got to us 26

27 Barrier: Psychological Coping Strategies: Recognize and acknowledge your own outrage Separate the psychological appeal to do it the old way and the real effectiveness of a communications strategy and activity Remember that their perceptions are as real to them as your perceptions of what is true are to you 27

28 Barrier: Social / Societal Culture and Societal Values Vary The beliefs and basic needs of most individuals are fairly similar (Maslow): Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging Esteem, Self-Actualization The beliefs of a society vary widely Religious, Social, Morality, Value of Life Coping Strategy Be aware of the impact of the differences Work within the restrictions to deviate from them will increase audience outrage 28

29 Barrier: Physical Distance Medium of Communication Lack of body language cues Environment (i.e.: Noise ) Coping Strategy Recognize that human communication is 55% body language, 38% tone of voice and only 7% in words * * Carnagie/Mellon 29

30 A MODEL for Effective Communication 30

31 Sandman Hazard + Outrage Risk = Hazard + Outrage (are you outraged, yet?) O U T R A G E Outrage Management 3 (Waiting for the Next Problem) 4 Crisis Communication 2 Precaution Advocacy 1 H A Z A R D 31

32 Communication Priorities In Risk Communication The HAZARD is not always your first fix To fix the hazard, you will have to get past their barriers: They will not hear messages from behind the walls of outrage Reduce the outrage Get their attention THEN give them the important information 32

33 Communications Tools What fuels the Outrage? Things you Say / Don t Say Things you Do / Don t Do Messages have 2 key areas: The information itself The messenger 33

34 Components of Outrage (~30) The Message: Voluntary / Coerced Natural / Industrial Familiar / Exotic Memorability Dread (Fear of the Unknowable) How much Control do you have? Fair / Unfair (Risk vs Benefits) Moral Issues 34

35 Components of Outrage (~30) The Messenger Trusted / Trustworthy or Not?? Responsive, or Not?? Using the components of outrage, craft messages to reduce or increase the level of outrage necessary to drive the focus on fixing the hazard. 35

36 Risk Communication Flow Assess the hazard situation and level of outrage Identify the principal components of outrage Get a feel for the OHS culture of the organization what can they absorb? SAMPLE your audience(s) to establish what type of messaging they will need 36

37 Risk Communication Flow Craft messages to deal with outrage and stimulate action on the hazard Negotiate support from your company resources to put the changes in place (support from above and below) Use Changed Management principles to implement the changes 37

38 Culture Matters Cultural Assessment Tools: Survey / opinion polls Documentation assessment Leading / Trailing Indicators Personnel issues (discipline, absenteeism, EAP hits ) Physical conditions Worker belief in empowerment 38

39 TYPES of Audiences 39

40 What Are Audiences? Individuals or Groups that have an interest in the situation Their interests may be supportive of your position or in opposition to you Some Audiences may remain neutral or responsive to the last opinion Audiences can be internal to your organization or externally-based Each Audience has different drivers 40

41 Common Audiences Industry Regulators (at all levels) Elected officials (at all levels) Activists (at all levels) Employees (and retirees) Neighbours (those who are impacted) Concerned citizens Experts (specialized knowledge) The Media (and those that they reach) 41

42 Audience Evaluation Sample Your Audience: S situational stressors A audience parameters M motivations P perceptions L listening E engagement SAMPLE 42

43 Audiences The larger and more diverse the audience, the less effective the communication What are the Implications of this? 43

44 COMMUNICATIONS and Organizational Development 44

45 Organizational Development 45

46 Negligence to Compliance Work from within to demonstrate the advantages of compliance and the potential operational and financial disadvantages of non-compliance Use impact examples from other areas Work with the management mindset of concern for potential productivity loss as a result of accident or an unplanned enforced compliance activity 46

47 Negligence to Compliance Waving around a rules book rarely works for very long and may brand you as a disruptive force rather than a helpful resource, thereby limiting your effectiveness 47

48 Compliance to Due Diligence You already have workplace recognition that safety provides benefit. Now is the time to maximize the value of your prevention activity Identify / Quantify reduction in WCB costs Provide workplace training in the concept of Due Diligence 48

49 Compliance to Due Diligence Provide easy ways of collecting and recording information Reinforce positive examples of taking care of business Initiate feedback loops to lead into selfimprovement Establish a credible planned OHS Audit System 49

50 Due Diligence to C-Improvement A baseline of Due Diligence provides the framework for Health & Safety Continuous Improvement. Formalize OHS feedback loop systems to incorporate changes in policies and procedures to enhance health and safety. Demonstrate wherever possible the advantages of a proactive response to Near Miss Reports or minor incidents. 50

51 Due Diligence to C-Improvement OHS Document control standards should be initiated This is the first level of movement from a safety program towards a safety management system 51

52 C-Improvement to TQM OHS culture at some level is established and stable Build upon the OHS improvements experienced and the lessons learned in the OHS Continuous Improvement process Coach local management on how the application of these principles can assist in other areas: procurement maintenance 52

53 C-Improvement to TQM Policies for operational activities of the company will need to be standardized and Document Control established under a central authority 53

54 TQM to Evolution/Integration This is an organizational change rather than that which would occur only within the OHS department (transformational change rather than transactional change). Feedback loops have been established in multiple divisions or departments. Centralized Documentation Control exists. 54

55 TQM to Evolution/Integration Change management has been adopted as an organizational effort An organizational Vision has been established, with a powerful guiding coalition of workplace parties, and is fully resourced. OHS staff are integral to the change team to assess and provide controls for the potential hazards of the change. 55

56 MESSAGING Techniques 56

57 Messaging Risk Communication is a science based discipline High stress, high concern situations change the rules of communication The key to success is anticipation, preparation and coordination 57

58 Message Development The 95% Rule 95% of all questions and concerns that will be raised by any stakeholder in any controversy can be anticipated and predicted in advance. What are the Implications of this? 58

59 Covello Message Mapping Message Map Tiered layers of triplet messages Know what you want to say Keep messages short & clear One idea per message/sentence Key Message or Fact Keyword (memory jogger) Supporting Fact 59

60 Covello Message Mapping Key Message x 3 Here is what you need to hear Key Word Reinforcing x 3 Here is what makes it more important Supporting Fact (Factoid) x 3 Here is something additional or related that you can check for yourself 60

61 SUMMARY 61

62 Session Overview Introduction Principles of OHSE Communication Barriers to Communication One Model for Effective Communication Types of Audiences Communications & Organizational Development Messaging Techniques Summary 62

63 What Did He Say?? Risk Communication: is a tool to help you become more effective has rules. If you follow them, they have a good chance of working audiences vary. Work with the differences models are effective, if properly applied is not easy, but the rewards to you and your company should be worth the effort messages have a point and when they are needed, they are needed badly 63

64 QUESTIONS? 64

65 Practical Risk Communication For the OHSE Professional or Practitioner Fred Leafloor, CRSP, CHSC Safety First Industrial Safety Services Regional Vice President, CSSE Atlantic