Safety First

“Safety First” is a slogan in Your Business Blogger’s household. Which made the trade show hosted by the Georgia Department of Labor on Safety, Health and Environment actually fun.

Being in Savannah helped.

The first goal of the conference was to:

To provide a quality, comprehensive and convenient forum for the education, training and empowerment of those entrusted with the welfare and safety of Georgia’s workforce.

One of my favorite speakers was Ron Newton who runs Peak Training who begins with, “What do you want from people in supervisory positions in your company?”

Ron outlines the basics:

Correct

Knows the rules, follows the rules, skills

Consistent

Does it time and again, a known value

Complementary

A team player, not a loose cannon.

Safety, just like quality and sales is the result of managing behaviors not numbers. Those behaviors, those people skills are seldom taught.

Ron continues:

Nearly all managers and supervisory personnel come up through the ranks of most organizations. The process of on-the-job

training is a long accepted business practice that transcends industry bounds.

More often than not…an organization will look to an employee who has tenure, has a good attendance record, and perhaps has demonstrated some leadership skills.

This individual is given a “white hat,” put in charge, and sent out in the organization with instructions to make things happen. What “tools” have these individuals been provided to insure he or she will be a good manager?

Far too often the first line manager has not the knowledge, skills or abilities to perform.

Educators like Ron Newton are filling the gap.

What this helpful? Please comment.

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