Creativity – Ten Elements of an Effective Safety Kickoff Volume Eight by Safety Speaker John Drebinger
#8 Creativity – Thursday, November 3rd
A great safety kickoff comes from the creativity of you and your team. This is another area where you also increase your participation by involving others. In my blog http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690 I did a series of suggestions of how to add something unique to your safety meeting.
Some thoughts on creativity:
- Creativity is the key to discovering new solutions.
- Creativity is learned.
- Creativity improves with practice.
- Look for models of creativity such as Walt Disney, Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, etc.
- Begin by believing it might be possible.
- Or at least believing it’s not impossible.
- Ask yourself empowering questions.
- Help others to be creative.
Examples of Creativity that add to a meeting:
- Give-aways
- Themes such as making the Kickoff like a game show, seasonal ideas, doing the Kickoff as if they were all on a flight and you were giving an Airplane Safety Briefing
- Music
- Safety Slogans
- Safety Posters
- Clothing with Safety slogan
- Candy Bars with Safety Slogan Wrappers
- Skits that convey a safety message
What You Need to Know About Safety Slogans
I was speaking for one company and as we entered their meeting room, the first thing I saw was a giant four feet tall by twelve feet wide safety banner. It was one of those with grommets that you can post outside on a chain link fence or between posts. As I looked around the room, all the walls had similar banners presumably from previous years.
This was a great idea and a great use of old safety banners. The only problem was the first banner I saw was an example of a well-intentioned but incorrectly written safety slogan. The banner said, “Accidents happen in the blink of an eye!” Obviously, meant to convey that an injury could happen very quickly and unexpectedly. So, what could possibly be wrong with that? Let me print more of what it actually looked like.
ACCIDENTS HAPPEN
In the blink of an eye!
The problem was the predominate message was, “Accidents Happen.” You would agree it is not the most useful belief. I explained everyone who walked into the room received the message unconsiously that accidents happen, which takes prevention and personal responsibility out of the equation. Happily, they removed the banner and threw it away a few minutes later.
This is not the only incorrectly worded banner I have ever seen.
You must be cautious when choosing a safety slogan or even drawing a safety poster. Too often you can send the wrong message.
Special Free Service To You My Subscriber
As a service to my readers, I will be glad to review your safety slogans by email if you send them to me at john@drebinger.com I should be able to get back to you within a week. Also, give me a phone number I can reach you at with best time to call if I need clarification.
Of course, I would love to give one of my outstanding presentations customized at no extra cost to fit right in with the theme of your kickoff. Just call Diane Weiss and she can set everything up for you.
Also, I am available to do a presentation skills seminar for your safety team. This all day seminar includes instruction on how to develop great safety slogans.
Would You Like to Share This Article With Others?
This newsletter is the 8th in a series of ten on how to have an effective safety kickoff. If you would like to share any of these articles go to http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690
where they have been posted on my daily blog. When reprinting or emailing please include credit to: John Drebinger Presentations 209-745-9419 and www.drebinger.com
Outcome Based Presentations For Your Safety Kickoff
“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”
We tell everyone that they should be their “brothers keeper” and yet we don’t teach them how to do it. This presentation which accompanies my new book by the same title is designed to create a culture in your workplace where watching out for each other is the norm rather than the exception.
“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?” will:
• Give people the five reasons they should watch out for the safety of others.
• Explain the three reasons people fail to watch out for the safety of others and then give them a perspective that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that keep people from helping others.
• Give them specific techniques they can use immediately to share safety with someone else in a way both people will feel great.
• Finally the most important lesson of the presentation is showing people how to respond when someone watches out for their safety. This lesson ensures that people will continue to watch out for each other and will seek out ways to watch out for the safety of their fellow worker.
This presentation is so powerful that John has written a book by the same title that is provided for each attendee so they can review what they have learned and share it with their family and friends. It has been so well-received that we have already made our second printing of 5,000 copies only four months after our releasing the book.
“Ensure Your Safety”
If you want people to take personal responsibility for their own safety on and off the job this presentation is for you.
Your employees will learn:
• Why they need to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
• How to stay focused in order to ensure safe performance.
• How distractions impact their personal safety.
• How to regain their focus on safety when distractions get in the way.
• Why they want to avoid shortcuts for themselves and others.
Everyone will develop a positive association between safety and their job and understand how working safely directly benefits them and their families, today and in the future. Using magic, group participation, specific safety principles and universal truths, John will show the seasoned worker why they play a vital role in helping the “new guy” work safely by avoiding shortcuts and doing everything the safest way we know how.
John shows them why using the appropriate personal protective equipment ensures their safety even when machinery fails or human errors occur. This presentation covers safety from the time they leave home to driving safely back to their family at the end of the day.
His unique presentation breaks through the mindset of, “We have heard it all before.” His magic captures their attention, and the message they hear will make them take action resulting in fewer injuries.
“Safety as a Value”
In this completely different program, John shows your employees how to improve their own safety by sending the right message via their actions and words at work and home.
Your Employees Will Learn:
• What their real values are.
• How to convey those values to their family and friends.
• Safety is a value for everyone.
The key to his insightful approach is the premise that safety must be a personal value, and that values don’t change when conditions change, even in tough times. John will help your people raise their expectations, vision, passion, and energy to work safely and make a safer and more productive workplace.
With new stories and magic, this presentation will help your employees continue their enthusiasm and focus toward another year of safety success!
What do you want from a safety presentation?
• People to walk out saying, “That was the best safety meeting they have ever attended.”
• Everyone to talk about the safety meeting long after it is over.
• You want all of the above and most of all you want to get results. It doesn’t matter if everyone loved the speaker, their message, and yet they don’t change how they work.
John Drebinger is the only top safety speaker specifically trained to deliver an effective message. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Speech he has been a member of the National Speaker’s Association for over 16 years and has attended seminars from some of the most effective communicators in the nation.
From the descriptions listed above you have already noticed something that separates John Drebinger from other professional safety speakers. As an author and speaker he has many different presentations he can do for your employees. To help you deliver your safety message John customizes each of his presentations to convey your theme and concepts. Unlike many other safety speakers who have only one speech or story to tell, John has developed presentations that build on each other to help you improve your safety performance.
Logistics
John can do multiple presentations during the day so that all your shifts can hear his outstanding message. Diane Weiss his marketing director can help you with your scheduling as she has worked with hundreds of companies over the past twenty-one years and knows what will serve you best.
John’s presentations can be done in virtually any location. If you can safely gather an audience he can get his message to them.
These presentations are designed for employee meetings with 45 minutes to 1-hour time available.
