Why Top Performers can be your Biggest Safety Risk
And how to fix it ...
Hey there, and welcome to this week’s edition of Small Business Safety Pro.
This week we’re going to look at why your best workers can often be your biggest safety risk and how you can turn that around.
Key Points at a Glance
Some high performing employees at work are prone to taking more risks and doing things unsafely to get the job done more quickly or easily.
This can lead to this group of employees being injured more often, causing physical and mental harm to the employee and lost production and increased Worker’s Compensation premiums for the company.
This happens due to overconfidence, complacency, internal and external pressures and lack of supervision.
The way to fix it is to coach not criticize the employee, address blind spots they may be missing and give them responsibility for some safety tasks to get them to see things in a different light.
The Problem – High Performers who are Often Hurt
At a place I used to work there were two guys who often worked together on the shop floor. They were good friends, a little rough around the edges and liked to work hard and get things done. They never passed up overtime, dug in to all the hardest tasks and their output was the best on their crew. The bosses loved them.
When they weren’t off work or on light duty due to an injury, which was often.
Unfortunately, some of the characteristics that made them great at getting things done also made them prone to getting injured. A lot.
First of all, they often took pride in using brute strength to move an object or push a heavy part into place. This was great until they suffered multiple muscle strain injuries. They were also not opposed to ignoring safety rules to get a job done quicker, which in one case led to a significant hand injury. And the quality of the product was not always the best, despite being done the quickest because they often skipped procedures to save time.
Let me be clear, these guys were great workers, great employees, who cared about their job and wanted to do well. They certainly didn’t want to get hurt on the job. But the frequent injuries eventually took a toll on them and the increased downtime and worker’s compensation premiums weren’t good for the company either.
I’ve seen the same pattern in several other businesses as well.
So what is it that makes high performing employees a safety risk to themselves and others?
Here’s why it happens – the double-edged sword of high performance
High performers can inadvertently put themselves at risk through a combination of factors:
1. Confidence overrides caution.
Sometimes it’s just a matter of overconfidence. Having done a job many times before, high performers may feel invincible. They believe they know the risks and know how to avoid them. Unfortunately, if the way they do a task ignores good safety practices, it will come back to haunt them at some point.
The same experience that causes workers to be able to do a job quickly and efficiently may lead them to skip steps they feel are unnecessary. This complacency is one of the most common causes of accidents that I’ve seen in my career.
2. Pressure to maintain output – both internal and external.
Pressure to maintain output is a common theme among safety risks in the workplace. With high performers, though, the dynamic is a bit different. Most often they are driven by internal pressure rather than external pressure. High performers are less motivated by external forces such as quotas and performance goals and more driven by internal ambition. They want to be the best performer on the crew or show others they know what they are doing.
3. Less supervision, or even tacit approval from supervisors.
One of the things that happens with productive employees is they tend to get less direct supervision. Managers feel they can count on them to get production out the door and may not spend as much time seeing just how that production gets out the door. Worse is supervisors who overlook unsafe practices or give tacit approval as long as production levels stay high. Often unsafe behaviour goes uncorrected until an injury occurs.
How to Fix It – Redirect their Strengths to Focus on the Right Things
Productive employees want to do a good job. They take pride in their work and want to show that can be leaders on the job. As such, it’s often not hard to change the focus a bit and get them back on the right track. Here are some ways you can make this happen:
1. Coach, don’t criticize.
When you have a worker who’s performing well in many aspects of the job, you want to recognize the positives and emphasize the good things they are doing while making some small changes to incorporate safety. Often criticizing this type of employee will turn them off and cause them to disregard your message. Instead, be positive appreciate the good and show them how they can take their safety performance to the next level.
2. Recognize and address safety blind spots.
You need to give honest and direct feedback about mistakes that are being made from a safety point of view. Explain why you feel a certain action is unsafe and give them a way to do it more safely. You may get resistance on this so be prepared with alternatives and try to anticipate objections prior to the discussion. It’s not about blame but about finding a safe way to perform the task without decreasing production.
3. Give them responsibility for some safety related tasks.
Top performing employees enjoy being seen as a leader on the job and in many cases they’ve earned it. One of the best ways to get them on board with safety initiatives is by giving them some responsibility for safety on their crew. Get their input on a job, include them in safety inspections and give them responsibility for overseeing pre-shift inspections or giving a toolbox talk. This is a fantastic way to get a quality employee to see the importance and get their buy-in on safety programs.
As I’ve said, top performers at work want to do well. They want to work safely and contribute to the company’s success.
Your job is to show them the way.
That’s it for this week’s edition of Small Business Safety Pro. I publish every Tuesday morning on LinkedIn and Substack. I also ghostwrite thought leadership articles for safety professionals and can help you build your online presence. I’ve increased my LinkedIn profile views by 15x in just 3 months and I’m happy to help you gain more visibility and opportunity for yourself online.
Cheers,
Dan.