Safety Moments have become a prominent feature at employee town halls, staff meetings, gatherings in field locations, etc. Many companies have introduced safety-training modules and require all employees to complete these on an annual basis. But are they working?

How do you best measure the effectiveness of these programs? If you have not recently toured some of your field sites or spoken with employees in your corporate offices, you may benefit from doing so.

Hot summer days precipitated several tornado and severe storm warnings this year. As funnel clouds formed, many companies advised employees to evacuate field sites and led corporate office staff to basements and parking garages. Others, who would consider themselves well prepared, did not reflect the investment of safety training.

In a large corporate office, management employees peered out a boardroom window and spotted funnel clouds on the horizon. They sought direction from one of the appointed fire wardens. The response was, “I don’t know. I am only responsible for fires.” Peering through the glass, the group spent time estimating how fast the cloud might travel and if they could cover off all their agenda items before it reached their building. After a few minutes of this, one of the more junior staff stated, “Can any of us accurately estimate the speed? It may be barreling down a freeway towards us. Let’s go the basement.”

Every leader I know would want people to choose safety above all else. Common sense remains one of the most beneficial apparatus for avoiding incidents, accidents, fluid spills, medical mistakes, and employee injuries.

Who in your organization is monitoring the health of common sense?

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