Speaker: Dr Tristan Casey, Director, New View Safety
The rights and wrongs of safety comms
Our March speaker, Tristan Casey, zoomed in from Brisbane; luckily ex-tropical cyclone Alfred had moved on, so the technology hung in there!
Tristan shared some very interesting research about issues with safety communication and the effects they can have on the safety climate of an organisation. One study looked at the "White Noise" problem of saying too much, while another looked at the "Tumbleweeds" problem of saying too little.
His own research was the main focus of the talk, however, and he honed in on the skills required by Supervisors to communicate effectively, as they are important conduits for this. He presented practical tips based on his research, including a project he undertook in collaboration with the recruitment agency Protech. The presentation package on our website includes his WHS Communications Guidelines developed for the Rural Safety & Health Alliance, as well as the white paper he produced from his work with Protech.
Our own Rob D'Elsini, who is a WHS Business Partner at Protech, contributed to the presentation by talking about how they have used Tristan's insights to improve safety comminication at all levels in their organisation as well as with their clients. One example is starting a toolbox talk with a discussion called STCKY: Stuff That Could Kill You -if that doesn't grab people's attention, I don't know know what would!
A big take-away from the presentation, and the subsequent audience discussion, is how we need to tailor and adapt communication to different cohorts and embrace the emerging technological tools available to us. There is certainly a great deal of innovation developing and it was great to have Tristan and Rob share some of their innovative ideas.
Financial members can access the full presentation on the CSG website. Also, check out last year's presentation from Troy Winn A visual approach to inductions (log in first); it was a great example of how to improve Supervisors' communication skills through the use of short videos.
View Presentation & Full Event Video
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