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The future of safety professionals may well rest in their ability to improve the effectiveness of their communication skills. Everyone has listened to a speaker who does not seem to be effective. In some cases, these individuals need to improve their skills as communicators. The safety professional must strive to develop as many skills or communication tools as possible in order to make a difference. Just as any company that wants to remain competitive and stay in business must evaluate the results produced by each of its divisions, departments, managers and employees, so must a safety and health professional analyze his/her effectiveness as a communicator.
What can the safety professional do to improve effectiveness whether communicating one-to-one or to a group?
CHANGING WHO YOU ARE IS HOW YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT lEVEL OF EXCELlENCE
To move forward and improve, you must change who you are. The person who never moves forward and improves often claims, "If I did that I wouldn't be me." That is absolutely correct. The person you are today is different from the person you were when you left elementary school. What you have learned through life experiences has brought you to where you are today. The secret to success is to be committed to constant learning so that the person you are becoming is better and more effective each day
THE FIRST STEP: TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
To ensure a safe workplace, a company must take on various responsibilities. To communicate safety concepts, each individual must take responsibility for his/her own safety. The safety professional and management must be accountable for the safety of those in their charge. This involves taking responsibility for the effectiveness of communication, which is best judged by results. The ultimate goal is to do whatever it takes to be effective as a safety communicator, trainer, manager or fellow employee.
To be successful, I must take full responsibility for the results of this article. If this article is unread, I did not make it compelling enough to be read. If those who read it do not utilize its methods, that is my responsibility. To do anything less than take responsibility for my work will result in less than my best.
In the workplace, many trainers blame external...