Attitude is how a person thinks and feels about a situation. It is the perspective with which a person views a situation. Attitude drives how a person will react to a situation or if a person will take proactive actions in anticipation of a situation. Attitude is completely controlled by the person though there are outside influences that may affect a person’s attitude.
A worker’s attitude toward the safety of themselves as well as their coworkers is very important. When a worker has a positive safety attitude they do what is necessary to keep themselves from getting hurt by using the tools provided to them such as safety training and procedures, using the right tools and equipment, being alert for hazardous conditions and actions correcting those hazardous conditions and actions before an incident occurs, and coaching and encouraging coworkers to do the same. A worker with a positive safety attitude takes responsibility for their own safety and that of their coworkers. This positive attitude will ensure the task gets completed without anyone getting injured or killed. A worker with a negative attitude toward safety will be complacent, not be alert to unsafe conditions or actions, not interested in following procedures, and is just concerned with getting the job done as quickly as possible. A worker with a negative attitude toward safety will exercise poor judgement and take shortcuts which could lead to the worker or a coworker getting injured or killed which tends to slows down the completion of a task or job. It is important to understand that no worker tries to or intends to get hurt or killed while on the job.
Outside influences that may affect a person’s attitude is the emotional state in which they are at the time. Emotions and our mental state of mind work very closely together to affect our attitude. If we get mad or are upset because of a work-related issue with a foreman or a coworker, or a strong disagreement with the foreman on how a job should be completed, or a coworker says something we don’t like, or a delay in completing a task or a change in the schedule occurs that is out of our control, our emotions may cause us to become angry or upset and that can affect our attitude toward everything including safety. We need to recognize that these outside influences will occur and we need to do everything we can to keep our emotions under control and keep our attitude toward our safety as well as our coworkers top of mind. Other outside influences include those of a personal nature when not at work such as family issues that can distract us and effect our emotions, which ultimately affect our attitude at work. Workers and managers need to work together to provide resources to workers to deal with the issues outside of work that will affect the worker while on the job.
Attitudes are the framework in which we deal with situations. There are some negative attitudes to be aware of in ourselves and in our coworkers. One such negative attitude is that of not liking to be told what to do or how to do a task. Some people don’t like to feel like they are not in control of their activities, they don’t like to be “bossed around”. This could also be exasperated when the person being told what or how to do a task is younger or perceived to have less experience, knowledge, or seniority than the worker being told what to do. This attitude may cause the worker to make bad decisions that may adversely affect the worker or their coworkers. Another negative attitude is that of a person that makes quick decisions without all of the available information, without careful assessment. or without considering the available information all in their effort to get the job done as quickly as possible. This type of a negative attitude jeopardizes the safety of the worker and their coworkers as it leads to not considering the consequences of their quick actions made by not considering all of the available information. The planning of a task will go a long way in removing the need for a worker to make quick decisions. Another bad attitude in workers is that of considering themselves above the laws of gravity or physics almost as if they are invincible thinking that they will not get injured or killed because they have been doing the job for so long without incident (though they may have a short memory when it comes to near-hits) that they keep taking the shortcuts or not following safe work procedures because they feel they know a better way to work based on past experiences. This could be called complacency thinking that they have been doing this job so long the same way with the same shortcuts with the same disregard for safe work procedures that they do not even recognize hazards associated with the task. This negative attitude allows workers to make quick decisions, take unnecessary chances, be overconfident in their abilities, think they are better workers because they take unnecessary chances and ignoring hazards all for the sake of getting the job done faster though at a higher risk. All which could lead to the worker or the coworkers getting injured or killed. One last negative attitude is that of a worker that feels they have no significant control over their work environment and that it is just part of the job to work through the hazards of the job hoping they do not get injured or killed. They make poor decisions as they think there is really nothing that can protect them from the hazards of the job except what they do as an individual, sometimes following safe work procedures while sometime going rogue and doing things their way without regard to the consequences. A worker may exhibit, at times, more than one negative attitude.
It is important for every worker to understand and realize that their attitude, positive or negative, is their responsibility. No one else can ultimately change their individual attitude, only the individual worker. To take responsibility for one’s attitude, workers must recognize the negative attitude or attitudes they have and are exhibiting then to which they are basing their decisions upon. Workers need to identify the negative attitude or attitudes and what is causing these negative attitudes. Workers need to identify what is the basis or the negative attitude. It could range from being in a bad mood, to having a bad morning at home to getting off on the wrong foot at the jobsite, to multiple other reasons that only the worker would know about. Once the causes of the negative attitudes are identified by the worker, then the worker needs to take the necessary actions to change their negative attitudes. This may be trying to not think about problems at home when on the job (which is very hard if not almost impossible) as this causes distractions. If time from work is needed to correct problems at home then ask management for time to explain in confidence why the time off is needed. If it is a problem with coworkers or the job or the work environment, talk to your supervisor or manager explaining bluntly and respectfully what the problems are that are causing a negative attitude. The worker must be open and willing to work with management to correct the problem if possible.
Negative attitudes about safety can have dangerous consequences at work for the worker and their coworkers. It is important to identify negative attitudes that you may have and what is causing them then working to change the negative attitude about safety to a more positive attitude about safety. Understand that this is a long process, you didn’t acquire a negative attitude about safety overnight so you cannot just flip a switch and the negative attitude is changed to a positive safety attitude.
For more information and/or assistance, contact:
Wayne Vanderhoof CSP, CIT
Sr. Consultant/President
RJR Safety Inc.