Hi Safety Stuff Subscriber,

As always, I'm happy to be with you for a moment again.

The audience was great last week in Dubuque. And working with the Iowa-Illinois Safety Council committee was a delight. Thanks Laura and the rest of the committee for all the laughs.

Monday I'm off to Las Vegas to speak at the MCAA Safety Directors' Conference.

You probably got my announcement on Tuesday about my reformatted Safety Leader's Guidebook. I've gotten an incredible response. Here's a link for more information about this helpful tool:

www.makesafetyfun.com/safety-leaders-guidebook-p-2.html

Yeah for you Polly White from Northern Counties Health Care Inc. You are this week's safety & health meeting/promotion idea winner!

Safety & health meeting/promotion idea winners get 25 Safety & Health Puzzles on CD which they can copy and give out to their employees. They also get a copy of Spice It Up! 52 Easy Ways to Turn Your Safety Meetings From Bland to Grand! If you'd like to purchase these helpful products just go to: www.makesafetyfun.com

If I publish your idea on how to use a prop to make a point, or some way to get your audience involved in a safety & health meeting, or an innovative way to promote safety & health on and off the job, you'll win the puzzles and booklet.

Send your ideas to me at richard@richardhawkinc.com or click on the link at the bottom of this message.

Now, on to Polly's idea:

CATCH THEM DOING SOMETHING RIGHT

Hi Richard,

Here is an idea for celebrating good workplace safety practices: It seems most work places are punitive and emphasize what you do wrong. Sometimes it seems like we work in the world of shame and blame. We are always ready and find it easy to criticize others for not doing things correctly. I believe we need a change of heart and mind. So . . . I've made my motto for safety "Catch them doing something right."

Here is an idea that "focuses" on good behavior. When you do a workplace safety walk through, keep your digital camera ready and be ready to catch employees in the act of "doing something right." When you catch someone using their best safety practice, like using a safety device, lifting a load correctly, or perhaps just setting out the signs to mark a wet floor, snap their picture. The pictures can then be placed on a public bulletin board.

You can be very creative with the bulletin board titles and picture captions. I like "We Celebrate Safety" at the top and then under the pictures you can put "Jane Smith has been caught doing something safely" and then post the pictures for everyone to see.

Leave them up until the next safety walk through. The pictures celebrate the person for doing good work and serve as a reminder of correct behavior.

TIDBITS

The risk that someone will be shot in an armed robbery: 1 in 20.

Men with mustaches may be allergic to their own lip hair. That's because mustaches can harbor airborne pollens that trigger allergies.

Worldwide, 1 million people a year get tetanus and 270,000 die as a result.

In 2005 a woman in Florida required three days in the hospital after she was bitten on the leg by a poisonous snake... in her toilet. Alicia Bailey said the snake-which disappeared and was not recovered- was a water moccasin, and a large one. She also said the incident had a lasting impact. "We're currently very uncomfortable in our home," she said, "and toilet shy."

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Pilot Monty Coles of West Virginia was about to land his Piper Cherokee in Ohio in 2006 when a snake stuck its head out of the instrument panel. Coles was 3,000 feet in the air at the time. He swatted at the four- foot-long snake, causing it to drop to the floor near his feet. As it started to slither away, Coles grabbed it behind its head. "It coiled all around my arm," he said after landing, "and its tail grabbed hold of a lever on the floor and started pulling."

Coles radioed for permission to make an emergency landing: "They came back and asked what my problem was. I told them I had one hand full of snake and the other hand full of plane." He added, "Nothing in any of the manuals ever described anything like this."

STARTED MY DAY OUT GREAT

Here's an e-mail message I got recently that made my day:

Hi Richard,

I really enjoyed your presentation last week in Dubuque. It was my first time to attend a safety conference and I have to admit that I actually wasn't looking forward to going. I thought it would be very boring and dry, but you started my day out great!

Not only did you keep my attention but I got several tidbits that I'm already starting to use. I've been pegged as a "driver/driver" and know that I come across very strong sometimes. I've decided to adopt an attitude of seeing the lighter side of things and stop "ripping my heart." I know it won't be easy but every time I do something to stop that cycle it's one step to being a little less driven.

Anyway, thanks for the time and effort you put into your presentation! I really enjoyed your teaching and sharing of your experience!

Theresa Smedley
Engineering Dept./General Mills

If you'd like to get the same type of results at your next convention or employee day (or are looking for ways to improve your safety & health culture), contact Michele Lucia (972-899-3411 michele@richardhawkinc.com), or click on the link at the end of this email message.

If you'd like to see a video of yours truly go to my safety website www.makesafetyfun.com.

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
Avoiding Misunderstandings

Here is an excerpt from the "Communication" section in The Safety Leader's Guidebook I re- released last week:

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Communicating safely is no simple chore. When words flow in abundance, ideas quickly lose their integrity. We thought we said, "Move the tray to the right," but our listener insists we said, "Move the tray right away."

Why is it so easy to confound instructions? Are people just lazy and don't pay attention? Sometimes. But when you consider what's going on between two or more people while they exchange thoughts, it's amazing that we ever understand anything.

When you want someone to understand your message, whether extremely complicated or amazingly simple, keep these five points in mind:

1. It's your message, so it must be clear in your mind first. If the message is muddled while in your possession, it will become a mess when someone else gets hold of it.

2. People think in pictures not words. Ask someone what they think of when you say "Alaska" and they will tell you "cold," "snow," "Eskimos," or "Klondike bar." They won't say "A" "l" "a" "s" "k" "a." Keep this in mind when you send out your words. Consider what picture your message will create.

3. Once is not enough-at least not when the message is critical and involves someone's safety. Repeat the vital part of your message.

4. Speculate on ways the message could be misinterpreted. Napoleon Bonaparte was a stickler for crystal-clear communication. He had a saying that applies to much of today's world of business: "An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood."

5. Keep your audience in mind not only when you're sending your message, but also when you're crafting it.