Safety Slogans: Invisible Factors

If you ever get hurt on the job, it is possible that you will need stitches.  One technique used by hospitals is actually the use of super glue.  It is biodegradable and can be used to hold the skin together.  Here's the thing about the glue.  It dries fast, is invisible, and yet a powerful way to keep your skin together.  This illustrates a few basic points about safety.

1- There is a lot going on that you can't see.  Like the clear drying super glue, there are "invisible factors" that are important at work.  You may not see a report of an unsafe condition, you may not even be able to track safety accidents accurately.  What every safety inspector should know is that there are a lot of people holding things together.  They are doing things that don't get seen.  They are part of the protocol that you never wrote up on paper.  We call them invisible because people don't see them.  It is vitally important to keep these "invisible factors" working cohesively.  What most people have found works well is to give employees empowerment, respect, and opportunity.  A business that unknowingly creates bad feelings to employees will end up with new negative "invisible factors" versus positive ones. 

2- The glue dries fast.  This is like your communication network.  It doesn't take long for a nasty rumor to get around work.  There is the grapevine and it is a powerful tool for communication.  Many managers feel they can do and say as they please.  What they often learn later, is that the communication network is fast, furious, and beyond their micromanagement control.  In other words, do the right things.  Communicate effectively and positively to create a fast drying glue that holds the company in place instead of tearing it down.

3- The power of the glue is like your communication skills.  Many companies don't realize their employees have no idea what is actually expected of them.  The organization is run like a game of the telephone game you played in elementary school, everyone goes by someone said this and I heard that.  The game of telephone only shows the laziness of managers.  It is a tiny bit more difficult to write things down.  The effective safety manager will put much thought into writing plans that are easy to understand, memorable, and well communicated.  This is the power of glue.  Use the power of words effectively and realize the importance of getting it right.  The game of telephone is not how to do it.

One way to communicate effectively and fun is with safety slogans.  You might say something like this.

1- The invisible man made me do it.
2- The art of invisibility lies in my managers aptitude for communication.
3- If I am irresponsible now, how can I be responsible for "invisible factors."
4- What I don't see, is only a representation of what I do not know.
5- When invisibility happens, love is there.
6- Whatever I see turns to crap. And so, we might as well make it invisible.