Go Out and Watch (but don't be creepy about it)

Have you heard the old adage: You can’t manage what you can’t measure? Frankly, if you cannot measure something, you’re merely guessing. There is too much at stake in safety to guess.

Your job, in fact everyone’s job, indeed the job of ALL your safety management systems and processes is to measure behavior. Because it takes discipline, measurement is the hardest management practice to execute, yet the most essential. And that discipline is practiced through observation.

Before you have your meetings to discuss what to do about your injury rate, before you muse with others why your workers are taking risks, and certainly before you create or change your flavor of the month for another flavor—before all of this—go out and observe. Simply watch.

Now don’t be creepy about doing it. I once knew a general manager who wanted to improve the performance of his plant. He suspected inefficiencies so he went out to find them. But instead of wearing his company overalls, probably finely pressed with his rank insignias and medals, he borrowed a contractor’s pure white outfit to be a sneaky spy. Yes, an undercover boss. When news got around that the boss was seen out and about in disguise, well, let’s just add that to the dysfunctional practices list.

Watch, just watch. No hiding. Ask permission first before you watch. Put your biases to bed. You’re not looking for someone to do something wrong. You’re not looking through the lens of your rule book. Put your own personal experience with the job aside as well; it will only lead you down the wrong path. This is not a fishing expedition to find faults. It is an exploration to find opportunities to improve safety. You are there to LEARN!

OBSERVATION is easy. The hard part is putting aside your tendencies to fault-find, blame and tell people what to do.

Behavior is easy to observe. The properties of behavior make it particularly open to observation. First, behavior is omnipresent. It is happening right now at your plant. Second, behavior is visible, out in the open. You can see it—why seek out attitudes, beliefs, and values when behavior is right there in front of us? Third, we can see the impact of behavior, what it accomplishes. All you need to know to understand behavior is observable. All you need to know to change behavior is also observable.

YOU need to go to the source and observe. Direct observation is the only real way to understand human behavior. So that’s your homework. Go out, ask permission, and watch.

Direct observation is the only real way to understand human behavior.