Safety People Are Awesome by Safety Speaker John Drebinger July 9, 2014

Safety People Are Awesome by Safety Speaker John Drebinger

How often do you thank the members of your safety team? Whether they are safety professionals or volunteers on your safety team or even people who have been appointed based upon their position in your organization, they are a special group of people. As a safety speaker, I always end any presentation to safety teams or leaders with a thank you on behalf of all the people they protect.

They Give of Their Life For Others Safety

First, as a safety speaker, I thank them for the time from their own life they have given in order to make sure their fellow workers make it home to their families every day. I tell them I know they are paid to do that task, whether as a volunteer or part of their job description and they live and work in a country where they choose for whom they work. If they weren’t willing to do that task they could seek employment somewhere else.

I do find it exciting that even those safety team members who had someone else volunteer them for the position quickly catch the vision of safety and enjoy the assignment. Perhaps they realize what we do really makes a difference.

Secondly, I point out many safety team members spend more time on safety than what is on the clock. They often stay after team meetings having discussions with their fellow team members. They create ideas off the job then bring those to the next meeting. Their focus on safety 24/7 allows them to think of ways your company can make the job safer.

Finally, I remind everyone that none of us knows how many days we have left in this precious gift of life. I thank them for the hours, or days they have given of themselves on behalf of others. When they spend three days at a safety conference to improve their skills or learn more those are three days they can’t get back.

Making A Difference

A friend of mine specializes in working with organizations and charities helping them get volunteers. One of the most important factors he points out is people want to make a difference. They are willing to dedicate their time when they believe that time will help others and have an impact. Be sure to talk to your team members about the ways they make a difference. Share with them success stories of how safety performance has improved. Have people who were protected by their work thank them.

Thank Everyone

Thank everyone who helps with safety from the newest worker to the CEO of your company. In general, we fail to thank people enough and doing so will go a long way in keeping those who help you as active contributing members of your team.

Thank You

I want to take this moment to thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter every week. Because of all the thanks many of you have given me in person or by email, I am committed to publishing this newsletter every week. I know some of you save several and read them all at once. Without your consistent readership, I would not have the motivation to continually come up with new and useful content for you.

Also, thank you for all the effort you put in so I can come and speak to your employees. The primary source of my 9,500 plus readers are people who have signed up for this newsletter at one of my live presentations. I know how hard many of you work to persuade your corporate leadership to bring me to your site to share the message you have heard me present. Without you there is no way my latest book would have reached 30,000 copies in print so quickly.

On behalf of all the people you protect and myself, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Until next week,
I’ll be, “Watching Out For Everyone’s Safety™”
International Safety Speaker John Drebinger