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SayYou » Blame Should Be Avoided After a Workplace Accident

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Blame Should Be Avoided After a Workplace Accident

Blame is frequently present when there has been a workplace accident. Often the rule-book is produced so that the blame can be justified. Blame is often pointed at the victim of the accident as if the manager thinks that they are the cause of the accident. Firstly, employees do not injure themselves on purpose in most organisations. Secondly, blame ignores the influence of management standards and practices on the employee’s behaviour. Imagine a situation where an employee is allowed to perform in an unsafe manner in front of supervisors and managers for a length of time, then he or she has an accident and is blamed or disciplined as a result. The underlying resentment of that person will have an extremely negative effect on the quality, co-operation, motivation, communication, discretionary effort and innovation in their work. If this is multiplied by the number of people who are injured at work every year in any given organisation, it is no wonder that some managers complain that their workers have the wrong attitude. One of the most important questions to be asked is, “What are the work implications which have condoned that unsafe action in the past?” The answer to this question gives a lead to the changes which must be designed to prevent the same incident happening in the future. It is a clear management responsibility to deal with people who break safety standards but more importantly it is their responsibility to establish and maintain standards and systems that consistently produce safe behaviour. The design and implementation of these standards and systems are the key to behavioural change. The best people to design the standards and systems are the people who work them. Too often change is imposed from the top without input from the employees. Just think how motivated you would be if you were given the responsibility to set up standards which affected your own safety. Would your standards and systems be effective? The right environment The secret to preventing accidents in the workplace lies in the leadership of the work group, the leadership skills of middle and senior management plus a consistent and visible support of the organisation. Generally, people only believe what they see, not what they hear. If the organisation says that they are committed to reducing accidents, employees will believe it when they see some tangible initiative in that direction. They have become cynical over the years by contradictory management messages. The role of leadership Many people have stated that workplace problems are the responsibility of management and therefore management should fix them. A much better concept is one that recognises that behavior, safe or unsafe, is the outcome of the example set by leaders. The best example management can give to their staff is to lead them to contribute to the design of safer methods which produce consistently safe behavior.

Source: SayYou » Blame Should Be Avoided After a Workplace Accident