Getting Your Feelings Hurt is NOT A Recordable Incident
Some folks say that 3rd-shifters are ornery; a cantankerous, unruly bunch who brave midnight shifts with skeleton crews. I’ve always found them to be honest brokers who will tell you real issues directly to your face.
To be a supervisor of such a group takes a patience and humility that few possess.
I was doing a New Year’s series of speeches to all three shifts of a large manufacturing plant with a proud history of serving the nation’s military and transportation industry. The company President, VP, and HSE Coordinator were all there. I had finished my talk with the dozen or so 3rd shifters who described the safety program as “loads better” than their early years of employment. Nonetheless, they also offered blunt discussions around hazards and safety issues left unresolved. Good for them.
During the break I overheard the 3rd Shift Supervisor talking to the plant’s Safety Supervisor about the discussion. The 3rd Shift Supervisor (who was kind enough to drive me to my rental car at 3am in -3° F) had recently transferred from Texas. To me it was clear that he had the respect of his employees and they felt free to put the issues on the table.
Regardless, it can sting when your employees are complaining about safety issues on your watch when the President of the company is in the room for the Safety Kick-Off. The 3rd Shift Supervisor told the Safety Supervisor that it kind of hurt his feelings that they were complaining so much after all he had done to improve safety for these folks.
Dave, their Safety Supervisor extraordinaire of 7 years, offered a load of wisdom. “You gotta have thick skin when dealing with safety issues. Just do what you know is right regardless.”
It got me thinking that Dave was giving spot-on advice. In the Safety Game, to play it right, we put ourselves out there; our egos and reputations are wide open to criticism. And often, we get our feelings hurt.
Consider the Supervisor above who is following up on safety concerns nightly but then has those same concerns put under the spotlight in front of the President.
Consider the employee who goes out of his comfort zone to approach and talk with another employee who may be taking a risk only to be confronted with a mean comment about the concerned employee’s manhood.
Consider the Risk Manager who has spent her career designing and managing an effective employee-based safety program only to have it undermined by new management.
The list goes on and on (e-mail me at TimLudwig@Safety-Doc.com to tell me yours).
Fortunately, getting your feelings hurt is NOT a recordable incident.
True, no OSHA or other government reporting need be done, no incident investigations must ensue, and I’m not sure it even qualifies as a near miss.
Instead, I’d argue it is the opposite of an incident. People who are willing to put themselves out there for the safety of others produce small wins. These are special people… and special people need special defenses for their feelings.
Instead of:
Getting beat down
Getting defensive and firing back
Giving up
Being a tattle-tale
Spreading rumors
Writing off that person
They respond to hurt feelings with an inward smile and greater resolve to make things better. And “yes” they go to their social support group not to be negative and complain, but to help build resolve and design solutions.
That’s right…for in each interaction that you have with a naysayer, you gain insight into the problem you have to solve.
Instead of being the VICTIM of ridicule…
You become a
better AGENT of
change.
And with each blow you successfully shield off, learn from, and solve… the more powerful your resilience becomes… and the more effective you are.
Don’t make it about yourself… if you do, then your feelings are bound to take a beating. Take yourself out of the equation and see these criticisms and setbacks as calls for help. Then help.
It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have to worry about getting your feelings hurt (because they are not recordable).
“Even if you're on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” -Will Rogers