How To Develop A Culture Of Alertness In The Workplace

On a scale of one to ten, what is your usual level of alertness in the workplace?

If you have no idea, then it’s time to adjust your functioning ability concerning vigilance.

Occupational safety and health is a discipline that exists for a reason. Workplace safety and health affect the overall productivity of every organization.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO):

• Over 6,000 men and women die every day from work-related illnesses or accidents

• 160 million people worldwide fall victim to work-related illnesses annually

• 340 million occupational accidents occur each year

Therefore, developing a culture of alertness in the workplace is a matter of urgency.

What Is a Culture of Alertness?

Workplace culture refers to the way people do things in an organization. This includes the:

• Shared values

• Belief systems

• Attitudes

• Social interactions

• Company traditions

A culture of alertness is, therefore, the way people do things to maintain a high level of awareness to enhance worker safety and health.

Unfortunately, workers of today are more likely to show lapses in judgment that will eventually affect their health and safety. Only 36% of workers in the U.S. are engaged in their workplace.

Therefore, it’s safe to assume that employees aren’t paying full attention to what they are doing. And that makes them potentially dangerous to everyone else.

They may end up ignoring issues that need to be addressed to safeguard the welfare of everyone. Some may even try to sabotage the good work that others are doing thus increasing the safety risks their colleagues encounter.

What Compromises the Culture of Alertness?

While many organizations may try to meet the basic safety and health standards required by law, their efforts may not be enough.

Workers within organizations are also responsible for safeguarding their welfare. But many of them have issues or take actions that compromise the culture of awareness in the workplace.

Below are some of the issues that compromise the level of vigilance in the workplace:

1. Complacency. When your work is dangerous to a certain extent, chances are that you will try to ignore your fears to do your job properly.

   You don’t need a psychologist to tell you that human beings have a high capacity to adapt to most things. Thus, ignoring the dangers is your body’s way of coping. Otherwise, you would not be able to do your job effectively.

   A good example is workers on a major construction site or those working in warzone areas. If you work in such an environment, you get used to tuning out things like noise from explosions.

   So, raising your level of acceptable risk is not always a good thing. It has negative effects on your attitude to safety issues. It makes you complacent over some time.

   You are more likely to ignore dangers that other people would notice and deal with. Whereas some of those dangers would cause regular people to leave, you may stay on because it doesn’t seem too dangerous.

2. Stress. Stress is a major occupational health and safety issue. Studies show that:

   • 83% of U.S. workers suffer from stress

   • 120,000 people die from work-related stress

   • U.S. businesses lose up to $300 billion annually due to work-related stress

   Stressed-out workers are walking hazards for several reasons. They:

   • Are more likely to deal with weight gain that can affect their ability to move around or operate the equipment.

   • Tend to have a compromised immune system that ends up causing multiple health problems. These problems include cardiovascular disease and back pain.

     Other problems include diabetes, depression, and hypertension among others.

   • Are less likely to have self-control. They are more likely to make decisions based on their emotions rather than logic, which can compromise safety.

3. Lack of enough sleep. Sleep deprivation is another issue that greatly compromises the culture of alertness in the workplace. Every year, one in every four Americans will develop acute insomnia.

   While most of them will recover, the damage that the sleep-deprived cause is huge. The lack of sleep costs the U.S. workforce an average of $63.2 billion in terms of lost productivity. But there is more to worry about than lower revenues.

   People who don’t get enough sleep will end up suffering from impaired cognitive functions. They will have slower physical and cognitive reaction times.

   Their reaction abilities are also inaccurate. As a result, their risk of incurring injury increases. That’s because they won’t be able to think or act fast or make smart decisions. Their ability to solve problems quickly is, therefore, compromised.

   The lack of quality sleep may also cause fatigue and drowsiness. And this can end up causing accidents among workers who drive work vehicles or operate any equipment. And sometimes, such workers may end up killing others.

   Actor Tracy Morgan’s accident is a case in point. The Walmart truck driver who hit him and put him in the ICU also killed comedian James McNair.

   Eight other people got injured as a result of the chain reaction that the Walmart truck caused. Investigators placed the blame largely on worker fatigue.

4. Leadership. Your management skills can also determine the level of alertness within your workplace. If you want workers within your organization to feel a sense of ownership concerning safety policies, then you must lead by example.

   There can be no culture of alertness if the leaders within the organization don’t follow the existing safety rules and regulations. You won’t have the moral authority to dictate to workers what to do. And neither will they practice the safety protocols when they are away from your direct supervision. Some may even quit.

How to Develop the Culture of Alertness

You can develop a culture of alertness in the workplace over time. There are several strategies that you can use to do this. They include:

1. Promoting work-life balance. There is more to life than work. You need to take a proactive approach to ensure that both you and your colleagues have a good life-work balance.

   Research shows that company culture is the biggest barrier to work-life balance. One solution to that is for the organization to change the way it views work-life balance. There should be less pressure on workers to work for longer hours.

   You may also want to agitate for remote work. It reduces the time wasted via commutes. And it also removes pressure for people to spend longer in the workplace even when they are done with their tasks.

   Instead, they can schedule their work to take advantage of the time they are operating at peak wakefulness. For some, that may mean working during the day. For others, that may mean working during nighttime.

   Then, if they feel tired, they can extend their hours of sleep by taking naps or waking up late. They won’t have to worry about being judged.

   Where nighttime shift workers are concerned, they should have more time to rest. That’s because many of them have trouble getting enough sleep. Their shifts should be scheduled in a way that enables them to recover from sleep debt.

   When people work less or more efficiently, they will be less stressed and more productive. Their level of engagement will increase. And they will be more vigilant during working hours, thus improving the overall workplace safety.

2. Continuous training. Complacent workers pose a danger to themselves and their colleagues. They are more likely to be negligent concerning occupational health matters. Continuous training will help mitigate that.

   Some workers are simply ignorant of all the safety hazards of their job. For them to become more alert, they need to be aware of what to look for. Other workers may not be up to date with the new safety protocols in place. Regular training will enable them to know the new issues that they should look out for.

   For those who are complacent, there needs to be a concerted effort that goes beyond displaying regular signs and slogans about safety. Everyone should receive training on improving eye-hand coordination, focusing on the tasks at hand, and switching attention to higher priority tasks with more risk.

   Also, people should be trained on how to regularly scan their surroundings for dangers and to quickly make decisions on how to deal with the impending dangers.

   Regular drills should be conducted to ensure that people can automatically react as they should in an emergency. Also, the value of first aid training cannot be underestimated. One never knows when they will need it.

3. Changing the management style to be more safety-focused. If you are a leader that does not observe safety protocols, then you need to start doing so. Workers are more likely to follow what you do than what you say.

   For example, you can’t tell people not to drink while at work if you are always drinking while working.

   Inspire your subordinates to take ownership of the overall safety of the organization. Do this by clearly communicating any changes to safety protocols. Hold regular discussions on the safety issues that arise and let people explain the ways they dealt with the situation.

   As a leader, you need to take an active role in the design of the work environment while factoring in your colleagues’ inputs. Ensure the work environment is easy to navigate and all exit points are marked clearly and easily accessible.

   You can inform your superiors about hazardous safety conditions. Choose to speak up for those working under you. If you are in a position to influence budgetary decisions, then fight for workers’ rights to access good quality equipment and working gear.

Final Thoughts

Workplace safety and health are the responsibility of everyone. You need to be proactive in safeguarding not just your welfare but also that of your colleagues.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.