The Safety Coach

Sarkus reveals Seven Cs for coaching in his book The Safety Coach. The book is divided into three sections illustrating (1) the power of reinforcement, (2) the power of relationships, and (3) the power of information. 

Sarkus, D. J. 2001. The Safety Coach Unleash the 7 C s for World Class Safety Performance. Donora, PA Championship Publishing. 

The safety coaching process described here is founded on the basic premise of behavior-based safety. Injuries are a direct function of at-risk behaviors, and if these behaviors can be decreased and safe behaviors increased, injuries will be prevented. Indeed, the well-known Heinrich Law of Safety implicates unsafe acts as the root cause of most near hits and injuries (Heinrich et al., 1980). 

Who will be on the steering committee to oversee the safety coaching process, answer these and other questions about process implementation, maintain records, monitor progress, and refine procedural components whenever necessary ... 

If stimulus overload can affect people s attention to an emergency, it can certainly reduce attention to common everyday situations that are not very obtrusive, but nevertheless require actively caring behavior. Consider, for example, the various needs for proactive behavior that can prevent an injury. Environmental hazards are easy to overlook, especially in a busy and noisy workplace requiring focused attention on a demanding task. Even less noticeable and attention-getting are the ongoing safe and at-risk behaviors of people around us. Yet, these behaviors need proactive support or correction as in the safety coaching approach described in Chapter 12. 

That may, in fact, also be unfair to traffic wardens for they, like safety advisors, woitld imdoubtedly reply that they are (a) serving a real pitrpose and (b) doing what they are reqitired to do. This is, however, the crucial distinction between Joy s concept of the safety coach and the concept of a safety advisor (in at least many of its incarnations) - a coach is an integral part of the team, neither can succeed without the other an advisor, by contrast, can (and often does) remain independent of and separate to the rest of the team (if they don t take my advice then what can I do ). 

Apprising the contribution and performance of a safety coach is however, a much less convoluted issue. For example, the safety coach and the operational... 

The second point in my theory (existential) was that the doctor has to leave the safety of his consulting room and get out there in the field where the so-called patient is having his unique problems, and where he is going to solve his problems. I saw the role of the doctor as that of a coach in a game in which the patient was the star player. The coach can help, can point out mistakes, can share his wisdom, but in the last analysis, the guy who does... 

Not unlike a sports team, the safety and health professional is an equivalent to the coach, and he or she must strive to train, educate, and motivate the players or employees to achieve maximum safety and health performance. The safety and health professional is knowledgeable in the rules of the sport, ensures that the players are aware of the rules, educates the employees and practices the plays, initiates positive and negative reinforcement as necessary, maintains all of the equipment, practices to improve performance, and motivates the employees to achieve the common objective of a safe and healthful environment. 

Above all, safety and health professionals want to instill a sense of pride and ownership in the safety and health function at all levels within the organizations. Motivated, empowered employees can change the thinking as well as the culture within the workplace and create a working environment that is truly beneficial to all and far beyond the boundaries initiated within the safety and health function. With the safety and health professional as the coach, the team will only progress as far as the coach trains, motivates, and prepares the players. Once equipped with the skills, abilities, and motivation by the coach, the players play the game and utilize these skills and abilities to achieve the established objectives. 

Safety and health professionals should also take pride in what we do. Safety and health professionals have an impact on every employee within the operations. The safety and health professional sets the tone and example for the every day safety and health efforts. The safety and health professional is the coach, the strategist, and the motivator. These important functions are never reflected in the job description, however are essential functions of the safety and health profession. Safety and health is as much an art as it is a science ... 

The primary function of sensors is to gather information about the wearer (mostly physiological data), his/her performance (including speed, posture, impact, hit, movement and locatirai, for example) or his/her environment such as temperature and humidity. How this information is used is then up to the athlete, coach or judge/referee to decide, but in general there are four main areas of use training, competition, safety and recovery. An overview of the potential functions of the sensors for each area is provided in Table 8.1. 

In sports, athletic coaches normally have a higher status than their players. In the workplace, safety coaches are more similar to Player-Coaches they are at the same level as their coworkers whom they observe and provide feedback to. An employee does not become an expert or superior just because he or she functions as a safety coach. It is normally a peer-to-peer process. 

There are usually many more opportunities for confirming feedback than for correcting feedback. In either case the feedback should be very specific. Vague feedback, such as Good job or Be more careful, has no place in safety coaching. 

The Power of Relationships. Good coaches build positive relationships. Sarkus discusses four Cs that help safety coaches develop their relationships ... 

Caring-. Caring leaders develop a sense of community where people support each other. Caring is a foundation that provides meaning to the actions safety coaches take to prevent injuries. 

The Power of Information. The final C Sarkus discusses is clarifying. Safety coaches and leaders influence behavior by clarifying safety values. Values in particular, and feedback in general, may be imparted through one-to-one communication or in group settings. 

Safety coaches observe and then give feedback. Feedback must be meaningful and meet certain criteria to be effective. The following are characteristics of meaningful feedback, whether the feedback is confirming, constructive, or a combination of the two ... 

Offer ongoing support As we have discussed, management leaders must make the transition from safety cops to safety coaches, mentors. They must support employees safe behaviors and bring the process back into alignment if it veers off course [4]. 

Leaders will be eager to coach, counsel, and inspire employees to act and work safely. The environment they create will be one where employees actively participate in the safety process and consider the process their own. 

Members of management at all levels consistently address the safety behavior of others by coaching and correcting poor behavior and positively reinforcing good behavior. 

You take responsibility for the safety of others through reporting near misses and minor injuries, identifying hazards formally, and coaching peers when anyone sees behaviors that put workers at risk. 

The function of safety and health can correlate with the broader structure utilized in team sports. The safety and health professional is the coach. He or she develops the game plan and prepares the players. The team owner, director of personnel, and other administrative functions correlate closely with the management team. The management team s priority is administration, production, and quality. The supervisory level correlates to the team captains on the field and directing the other players. And the employees correlate with the players. If the players know what to do and are... 

With all levels of the organizational hierarchy being truly empowered over the safety and health function, each individual must accept his or her responsibility and duties. Human nature being what it is, acceptance of responsibility requires accountability. The safety and health professional, as the coach of the team, should provide timely... 

Safety and health professionals, as the coach" for the safety and health function within the organization, should be prepared to listen carefully to their newly empowered employees and act upon their recommendations in a timely manner. Although the answer may not be exactly what the individual wishes to hear, it is vital that an answer is provided. A newly empowered employee who enthusiastically embraces his or her new safety and health responsibilities can be quickly throttled if timely feedback is not provided. Right or wrong, a timely response is essential for the newly empowered employee. 

Be a good example. As the coach, safety and health professionals should always set the standard for safety and health by always wearing the appropriate PPE and always following the safety and health rules. Do what I say and not what I do doesn t work in safety and health. 

Be a great coach. Safety and health professionals, as the coach of the team, should strive to bring out the best safety and health performance in each employee in each job. The safety and health professional should challenge and inspire the team members and encourage top-level safety and health performance. 

Safety and health professionals should be aware that this cultural change through empowerment of all levels within your organization can be an elongated process built through day-by-day consistent and constant efforts. The pathway of success is not always smooth, and there are many other variables and outside factors that can delay or derail your efforts. The safety and health professional, as the coach, should guide... 

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