November 25, 2024 • 10 mins
Its the holiday season, a dinner topic that may be brought up at a lot of tables centers around job and career changes. For safety managers, a driving force for contemplating a job starts with if they feel the company they work for doesn't have safety values that align with their own. Is it the company, or is it how the manager is presenting the concept of safety? Listen to this episode to learn more!
This video is intended for educational purposes. Solutions offered are not designed to take the place of an attorney, career coach, or medical professional, and should not be taken or acted upon as legal, career, or medical advice. It is recommended that viewers consult a safety consultant, career advisor, medical provider, and/ or an occupational safety legal team as applicable to help navigate their specific circumstances.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is about to be the holidays it's obviously almost
Halloween when I'm recordingthis, but when this episode that
you're about to watch getsready to drop, it's actually
going to be closer toThanksgiving, and the number one
thing that we see around theholidays is that people discuss
job changes, and that's always ahot topic at the table, right,
whether it's at Christmas breakor Thanksgiving break, and so
(00:23):
that's always something thatyou're like I'm thinking about
changing, and you have those bigdiscussions with family and
friends, and so the episode thatwe recorded is definitely
applicable to that.
If you're getting ready to makea big change or thinking about
a big change in your career,your job or your career path or
whatever that looks like, ormaybe you're just not
comfortable with how things havebeen going lately.
(00:45):
This is a great episode that'sgetting ready to play, and so
give it a listen.
I think you'll enjoy it andfind it helpful.
It kind of deals with if youjust feel like you're not sure
about the direction that yourcompany is headed in regards to
safety and you're not sure thatthe values that you might have
as a safety manager are aligningwith the company's values or
(01:06):
however that's playing out.
So give it a listen, let usknow what you think and have a
happy holiday.
What to do if you raise aconcern that is safety related
to the management team thatyou're currently working at or
maybe it even includes corporateand you are kind of told go fly
(01:30):
a kite.
They're not super interested.
So that's what we're going tobreak down today how to raise
concerns to a management teamand then how to navigate it if
they don't seem super interested.
So if this is the first timewe're meeting, my name is Jen
Allen.
I'm one of the owners of AllenSafety LLC and I have been in
the safety game andmanufacturing specifically for
almost 20 years now.
(01:50):
So between all of the trainingand safety audits, evaluations,
I was a safety manager at onetime in my former life before
becoming a consultant, and sothis is something that we get
brought to us quite a bit on theside phone calls, texts kind of
offline in the evenings, onweekends, about how to navigate
this weird gray area.
We don't want to lose our job,but we're really concerned and
(02:11):
feel that we're at kind of acrossroads ethically or we just
feel uncomfy about it.
Right, we don't feel good aboutit and so let's dive in, let's
talk about that so real quick.
First, just to be as clear forthe sake of this video as we can
, I kind of look at it likethere's kind of two groups of
companies, right, they're thecompanies that prefer to just
(02:34):
pay the fine, just pay the bill.
We think that's cheaper, don'treally want to invest a lot in
the safety culture, don't reallysee a value in it.
It's something we have to do.
Safety is the most importantthing, but when you really look
at the allocation of resourcesin terms of financials, in terms
of time, in terms of managersor personnel allocated to being
(02:55):
focused on safety as a subject,it's severely lacking in one,
two.
All of those categories, right.
And then you have the otherside of the coin, where it's
very proactive.
We are going to have safetyteams and evaluations.
We're actively going out andtrying to identify and drive
down risk as a company, as afacility, as a management team.
It's something that is lived andbreathed every day.
(03:17):
It is ingrained and woven intothe cloth of the entire company
and everything they do.
It's in every conversation, andso there's kind of those two
categories.
Now, of course, there'scompanies that fall everywhere
on the spectrum in between, butthose are kind of my two polar
opposite ends and I think it'sreally important to figure out
what end of the spectrum yourcompany would fall in.
If you're really brutallyhonest and you evaluate, you've
(03:39):
got to kind of piece through allof the mantras and the
corporate, speak right andreally get down to do their
action, support whatever thatsounds like.
So zero injuries, no injuries.
We believe everyone goes homethe same way.
They came to us Okay, but isthat something that the
management team, from acorporate level on down to
(03:59):
facility and site management, isthat something that is being
shown?
And I think it's important tounderstand where on the spectrum
your company is, because thatkind of tells you where to go
from there.
And the next thing that I wouldhighly encourage you to do is
look at your sales pitch whenyou try and discuss things that
are concerned.
So, whether it be a safetyconcern or a risk or project
(04:20):
related, you know something'scoming up with repair and
maintenance or engineering, oryou've got a big project or big
rebuild of some kind a shutdownmaybe.
What does that look like?
How are you selling safety?
Because one of the biggestshifts in mindset that I had
when I got into the safety gameand started growing as a manager
(04:40):
was I recognized I changed myframe of reference of where I
was coming from that these aremy clients and I am trying to
sell them this idea.
I'm trying to market to themwhy this makes sense.
I'm trying to show them wherethe return on investment yes,
it's a good thing to do, but formost companies it's got to be
more than just it's the rightthing to do, because they are
(05:01):
still in the business of tryingto make money and we still have
to put product out the door orwe close the doors and no one
has a job right.
So there is that whole piece toit too.
So if you really look at it likethat, then we are all basically
just advising and supportingand we're making our management
team aware of the risks legallyand what the injury risks could
(05:22):
be, and our job is to basicallysell that, whatever that looks
like.
So we want to, if it's verysevere, implore them that this
is very severe from a regulatoryside maybe, or a fine side, or
maybe there could be some kindof criminal or civil
ramifications in the courtsystem with it, depending on if
you've got EPA things going on.
(05:42):
We want to make them fullyaware of the scope of what we're
dealing with.
We also want to make them awareof if there's an injury cost
currently, if there's anequipment cost currently, how
those equipment and PPE orengineering costs, how some of
those repair and maintenancethings how would those be
affected?
Do they go down?
Do they go up?
Is there a return on investment?
How long?
(06:02):
What does that look like?
We want to really sell it right.
We want to give them our bestspit forward, our best sales
pitch, because they stillprobably have bosses that they
have to answer for when they'regoing through their budgets and
their numbers as well.
So we want to be really mindfulof that.
That they're still are as asafety manager, they're still
our end user, and so we want togive them the tools to sell it.
Or, if they have to explain it,give them a way to explain it
(06:25):
that makes sense to whoeverthey're having to answer to as
well.
And then the last thing is is ifyou feel like you're doing all
those things and you feel likeyou're selling it and this is
very ethically sketchy andyou're just really getting to
the point where this feelsuncomfortable, sketchy and
you're just really getting tothe point where this feels
uncomfortable.
You've just got to decide.
(06:48):
Am I comfortable doing what Ican, even if the improvements
I'm making aren't coming asquickly as I would like them to?
Is some better than none?
And if I left, who would takemy place and would things
improve at this facility, orwould they not?
Everyone has a differentthreshold of what they're
comfortable being okay with andgoing to bed and looking in the
mirror and all of those thingsright.
So you kind of just have tohave that internal conversation
with yourself of am I doingthese folks more good if I'm
(07:09):
here, even though I don't feelgood about this?
Or is it better if I leave,because I still have to have my
mental health in mind and myfamily time and my self-care in
mind and make sure that I'm okayas a human and take care of my
career and my family as well.
So those are all things thatshould be factored in, I think,
(07:31):
when you're making thosedecisions at the very end, when
you come to the decision fork inthe road of which way do I go.
I think all of those are veryimportant things to have on your
list, and there's many others,I'm sure I didn't catch them all
, feel free to drop them in thecomments if you've got other
things that should be on thelist that I missed.
In terms of considering whetheryou stay or whether you go, I
know co-workers are always a bigdeal and I know managers that
(07:53):
you're directly working with arealso a big deal too, so those
two things themselves can go areally long way, and whether you
want to stay or whether youwant to go as well definitely
things to consider If you want adifferent way to look at safety
, something that's a little lesstrite, a little bit fresher,
something that takes intoconsideration how do I take this
regulation and make it work formy business, my facility, with
(08:15):
what we're doing and theconstraints that we have.
We're breaking all of that stuffdown every other week on Allen
Safety LLC's YouTube channel andif it helps you, please like,
share, subscribe, comment, doall the things.
It really genuinely does helpus and it really helps get our
videos into the hands of thosethat need them.
So we really appreciate it.
We appreciate anyone that'spart of our community.
(08:36):
We want to say thank you forthat and until next time I'll
see you later.
Stay safe, everybody.
So so Thank you, you.
It is about to be the holidays it's obviously almost
Halloween when I'm recordingthis, but when this episode that
you're about to watch getsready to drop, it's actually
going to be closer toThanksgiving, and the number one
thing that we see around theholidays is that people discuss
job changes, and that's always ahot topic at the table, right,
whether it's at Christmas breakor Thanksgiving break, and so
(00:23):
that's always something thatyou're like I'm thinking about
changing, and you have those bigdiscussions with family and
friends, and so the episode thatwe recorded is definitely
applicable to that.
If you're getting ready to makea big change or thinking about
a big change in your career,your job or your career path or
whatever that looks like, ormaybe you're just not
comfortable with how things havebeen going lately.
(00:45):
This is a great episode that'sgetting ready to play, and so
give it a listen.
I think you'll enjoy it andfind it helpful.
It kind of deals with if youjust feel like you're not sure
about the direction that yourcompany is headed in regards to
safety and you're not sure thatthe values that you might have
as a safety manager are aligningwith the company's values or
(01:06):
however that's playing out.
So give it a listen, let usknow what you think and have a
happy holiday.
What to do if you raise aconcern that is safety related
to the management team thatyou're currently working at or
maybe it even includes corporateand you are kind of told go fly
(01:30):
a kite.
They're not super interested.
So that's what we're going tobreak down today how to raise
concerns to a management teamand then how to navigate it if
they don't seem super interested.
So if this is the first timewe're meeting, my name is Jen
Allen.
I'm one of the owners of AllenSafety LLC and I have been in
the safety game andmanufacturing specifically for
almost 20 years now.
(01:50):
So between all of the trainingand safety audits, evaluations,
I was a safety manager at onetime in my former life before
becoming a consultant, and sothis is something that we get
brought to us quite a bit on theside phone calls, texts kind of
offline in the evenings, onweekends, about how to navigate
this weird gray area.
We don't want to lose our job,but we're really concerned and
(02:11):
feel that we're at kind of acrossroads ethically or we just
feel uncomfy about it.
Right, we don't feel good aboutit and so let's dive in, let's
talk about that so real quick.
First, just to be as clear forthe sake of this video as we can
, I kind of look at it likethere's kind of two groups of
companies, right, they're thecompanies that prefer to just
(02:34):
pay the fine, just pay the bill.
We think that's cheaper, don'treally want to invest a lot in
the safety culture, don't reallysee a value in it.
It's something we have to do.
Safety is the most importantthing, but when you really look
at the allocation of resourcesin terms of financials, in terms
of time, in terms of managersor personnel allocated to being
(02:55):
focused on safety as a subject,it's severely lacking in one,
two.
All of those categories, right.
And then you have the otherside of the coin, where it's
very proactive.
We are going to have safetyteams and evaluations.
We're actively going out andtrying to identify and drive
down risk as a company, as afacility, as a management team.
It's something that is lived andbreathed every day.
(03:17):
It is ingrained and woven intothe cloth of the entire company
and everything they do.
It's in every conversation, andso there's kind of those two
categories.
Now, of course, there'scompanies that fall everywhere
on the spectrum in between, butthose are kind of my two polar
opposite ends and I think it'sreally important to figure out
what end of the spectrum yourcompany would fall in.
If you're really brutallyhonest and you evaluate, you've
(03:39):
got to kind of piece through allof the mantras and the
corporate, speak right andreally get down to do their
action, support whatever thatsounds like.
So zero injuries, no injuries.
We believe everyone goes homethe same way.
They came to us Okay, but isthat something that the
management team, from acorporate level on down to
(03:59):
facility and site management, isthat something that is being
shown?
And I think it's important tounderstand where on the spectrum
your company is, because thatkind of tells you where to go
from there.
And the next thing that I wouldhighly encourage you to do is
look at your sales pitch whenyou try and discuss things that
are concerned.
So, whether it be a safetyconcern or a risk or project
(04:20):
related, you know something'scoming up with repair and
maintenance or engineering, oryou've got a big project or big
rebuild of some kind a shutdownmaybe.
What does that look like?
How are you selling safety?
Because one of the biggestshifts in mindset that I had
when I got into the safety gameand started growing as a manager
(04:40):
was I recognized I changed myframe of reference of where I
was coming from that these aremy clients and I am trying to
sell them this idea.
I'm trying to market to themwhy this makes sense.
I'm trying to show them wherethe return on investment yes,
it's a good thing to do, but formost companies it's got to be
more than just it's the rightthing to do, because they are
(05:01):
still in the business of tryingto make money and we still have
to put product out the door orwe close the doors and no one
has a job right.
So there is that whole piece toit too.
So if you really look at it likethat, then we are all basically
just advising and supportingand we're making our management
team aware of the risks legallyand what the injury risks could
(05:22):
be, and our job is to basicallysell that, whatever that looks
like.
So we want to, if it's verysevere, implore them that this
is very severe from a regulatoryside maybe, or a fine side, or
maybe there could be some kindof criminal or civil
ramifications in the courtsystem with it, depending on if
you've got EPA things going on.
(05:42):
We want to make them fullyaware of the scope of what we're
dealing with.
We also want to make them awareof if there's an injury cost
currently, if there's anequipment cost currently, how
those equipment and PPE orengineering costs, how some of
those repair and maintenancethings how would those be
affected?
Do they go down?
Do they go up?
Is there a return on investment?
How long?
(06:02):
What does that look like?
We want to really sell it right.
We want to give them our bestspit forward, our best sales
pitch, because they stillprobably have bosses that they
have to answer for when they'regoing through their budgets and
their numbers as well.
So we want to be really mindfulof that.
That they're still are as asafety manager, they're still
our end user, and so we want togive them the tools to sell it.
Or, if they have to explain it,give them a way to explain it
(06:25):
that makes sense to whoeverthey're having to answer to as
well.
And then the last thing is is ifyou feel like you're doing all
those things and you feel likeyou're selling it and this is
very ethically sketchy andyou're just really getting to
the point where this feelsuncomfortable, sketchy and
you're just really getting tothe point where this feels
uncomfortable.
You've just got to decide.
(06:48):
Am I comfortable doing what Ican, even if the improvements
I'm making aren't coming asquickly as I would like them to?
Is some better than none?
And if I left, who would takemy place and would things
improve at this facility, orwould they not?
Everyone has a differentthreshold of what they're
comfortable being okay with andgoing to bed and looking in the
mirror and all of those thingsright.
So you kind of just have tohave that internal conversation
with yourself of am I doingthese folks more good if I'm
(07:09):
here, even though I don't feelgood about this?
Or is it better if I leave,because I still have to have my
mental health in mind and myfamily time and my self-care in
mind and make sure that I'm okayas a human and take care of my
career and my family as well.
So those are all things thatshould be factored in, I think,
(07:31):
when you're making thosedecisions at the very end, when
you come to the decision fork inthe road of which way do I go.
I think all of those are veryimportant things to have on your
list, and there's many others,I'm sure I didn't catch them all
, feel free to drop them in thecomments if you've got other
things that should be on thelist that I missed.
In terms of considering whetheryou stay or whether you go, I
know co-workers are always a bigdeal and I know managers that
(07:53):
you're directly working with arealso a big deal too, so those
two things themselves can go areally long way, and whether you
want to stay or whether youwant to go as well definitely
things to consider If you want adifferent way to look at safety
, something that's a little lesstrite, a little bit fresher,
something that takes intoconsideration how do I take this
regulation and make it work formy business, my facility, with
(08:15):
what we're doing and theconstraints that we have.
We're breaking all of that stuffdown every other week on Allen
Safety LLC's YouTube channel andif it helps you, please like,
share, subscribe, comment, doall the things.
It really genuinely does helpus and it really helps get our
videos into the hands of thosethat need them.
So we really appreciate it.
We appreciate anyone that'spart of our community.
(08:36):
We want to say thank you forthat and until next time I'll
see you later.
Stay safe, everybody.
So so Thank you, you.
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