Methods for Constructive Safety Feedback

Method 1: COIN Method

Connect: Find common ground with the feedback receiver and the feedback topic.

“Can we agree that we both care about safety?”

“Safety matters to me, does it matter to you too?”

“My family expects me to work safely so I can go back home in one piece. Do you have a family?”

Observations: Make specific, accurate descriptions of the observed behavior.

“I see you aren’t wearing your safety glasses.”

“You were working on a machine without locking it out.”

“You manually lifted very heavy load, without using forklift.”

Impact: Describe the consequences of the behavior.

“You could get something in your eye and need to go to the emergency room.”

“The machine could have started and you would have been badly injured.”

“If you keep lifting heavy items without help, you can injure your back. Many of these injuries result in permanent disability.”

Next steps: Partner with the person to develop an action plan or behavior change to improve workplace safety. Do not disctate, rather ask for an input from an observed employee, he might have quite a good understanding of the task, and can suggest practical yet quite efficient solution. The success factor is, once the solution is provided by an employee, he will own it, and this will ensure the sustainability of the action.

“Let’s make sure your safety glasses fit properly and meet your needs. Come to my office and we can look at different models that protect your eyes.”

“You are saying you have forgotten the work procedures. Let’s pause on this activity and I’m going to enroll you in a lockout/tagout refresher class to make sure you understand the proper procedures and know what to do in the event an incident occurs.”

“You couldn’t find the forklift operator? Let’s make sure we have his number distributed to all the team, so that you call him when needed.”

Method 2: “Ask, Tell, Ask” Method

First, ask the worker to assess their own performance. This begins a conversation, promotes reflection, and helps you assess the person’s self-awareness, level of insight, and stage of learning.

“How did the safety training go? Do you understand the procedure now?”

“How did the new safety procedure work? Were you able to follow it?”

“That was a heated safety committee meeting today. How do you feel you handled the conversation?”

Then, tell what you observed. React to the worker’s observation, give them some feedback on their self-assessment, and include both positive and corrective elements.

“Thank you for your insights. I saw how you were really engaged during the PPE module. It also looked like you had a harder time learning the fire protection material.”

“You were paying good attention. I saw many of the same things. I observed the team following the first two parts of the procedure. It also looked to me like they didn’t follow the last part properly.”

“I think the meeting went fairly well, too. The discussion about new high visibility gear went really well. Unfortunately, the discussion about forklift training wasn’t as productive.”

End by asking about the worker’s understanding and strategies for improvement. Discuss what the worker could do differently. Give your own suggestions and commit to monitoring improvement together.

“How can you make sure you understand our fire prevention program?”

“Do you have any ideas for adjusting the last part of the new procedure?”

“How could we handle the forklift discussion better when it comes up at next month’s meeting?