Selling safety as something people want to do & be part of

MY SAFETY

I am a Health Safety and Environment Manager on a large scale construction job; the Thiess/Decmil Pty Ltd/Kentz Pty Ltd Joint Venture (TDKJV); contracted to design and construct an accommodation construction village on Barrow Island for Chevron Australia.

I always look at different ways of "selling" safety to the workforce and use the principles of Coke-Cola and McDonalds and how they sell to the public. These companies are successful in getting recognised and this is my aim for Safety - get it noticed, make it so the workers want to do it and make it fun or enjoyable to do the "right thing" instead of a chore. The project I am on has a good culture of communication and interaction but Health Safety and Environmental (HSE) messages are dull and boring and I need to provide something different to lighten the message to get it understood and people wanting to do the right thing.

My target audience is mostly male. They range in age from 19/20 to 60 with the average age group in the "Gen Y" section ie 19 to 38. We have the macho persons, the ones who need to be led to do a job; ones who like to sit back & wait; the ones who make a song and dance about everything, the quiet achievers & the leaders.

The market is the tried and true construction workers. Some have never worked in the heavy commercial construction before and these people find it hard to relate to what is happening. The older hands tend to take it all for granted & switch off.

The project we are working on is on a world class environmental and nature reserve with many species found nowhere else on earth. We have a workforce of around 400 who work on a roster of 26 days on and 9 days off. There is nothing to do on the island so boredom sets in and complacency takes over.

I need to get these people focused and wanting to remain focused with a theme or idea or something they can relate to. I need them to look at a picture or poster & relate to it. I need them to remember and want to be like the poster person/cartoon/image.

I would like to have a series/set/number of posters displaying safety messages designed for three levels of people, employees (everyone), supervisors & managers. I have attached files to describe some ideas of the messages to be used as a base.

For the posters I need the message to get people to want to;
- do the right thing,
- communicate
- wear their PPE,
- follow the rules,
- not take shortcuts,
- watch out for their mates,
- help each other,
- not get in the line of fire,
- don't stand under loads,
- watch where they are walking & where they are putting their feet so they don't trip over,
- watch & think about how they lift things or bend down to lift,
- use the right tools the right way,
- look before they move - above & around,
- look for what will hurt them,
- think about the second level of risk,
- reporting injuries &
- standing up to accept accountability and responsibility ,

There is a document attached which describes "Our Safety Culture Framework" with different colours for different levels of employee. If these colours can be used or matched to the level, green - everyone, blue - supervisors & orange - managers to also provide the message to the different traget groups

I had thought of using the "Family Guy" theme or something along the lines of a cartoon character as the messenger

Please help and see what we can achieve.