Questions and Improving Safety Focus by Safety Speaker John Drebinger

Have you ever considered the value of questions to get people thinking about safety? Have you ever realized that questions linger in someone’s mind long after you have asked them?

This would be a great time to discuss a different topic to make my point, but I want to keep these entries brief whenever possible.

Your brain is a wonderful computer and just like the computers you use at work and at home when you ask a question your brain will begin to work on an answer. In some cases, it comes up with an answer immediately. 2 + 2 = ? Other questions will result in an immediate answer and you will keep thinking about the question. If I ask you what are some of the best ways to share safety with others you might give me an immediate answer and later that day you might come up with some other suggestions.

Still another way of posing a question is to simply wonder about something. As my editor is quick to point out the following, “I wonder what would happen if everyone began watching out for each other” is not a question, but the mind deals with it as if it were a question.

So think what questions or what things you could ask people to wonder about that would have an impact on their commitment to safety.

One of the subjects I teach when people hire me to do my program, “Mastering Safety Communication” is how to ask effective questions. As a safety speaker, I am constantly thinking of the questions that will move my audience to work safely. If you want to learn more, call my office to schedule a training session at your location.

So have you ever considered how much greater impact you would have with your employees if you brought in John Drebinger as a top safety speaker? Just another example of effective questioning.