Rob Sams scores a rare and exclusive interview with legendary safety crusader, Barry Spud…..
Barry’s Revolutionary New Online Safety Program
I was privileged last week to score an interview with the world-renowned leading expert in all things safety, Barry Spud. I met Barry at the launch of his new online safety program that he has appropriately called Safety and Health Is Tutelary.
Here’s what Barry had to say:
Me: Hi Barry, thanks for your time. I hear you have developed a ground breaking online safety program; can you tell our readers about it?
Barry: Sure I’d love to tell you all about it. The first thing to highlight is that it makes safety simple and easy for people to do. I talk at, I mean talk with, people regularly who all say the same thing; safety is just too hard. So, I set my mind to it and got together with our computer guys and the result, after a lot of hard work and research, is our Safety and Health Is Tutelary program.
Me: Sounds great Barry, can you tell us about the new program and its key features?
Barry: To start with, my program includes an online safety induction that you won’t see anywhere else in the world. It’s a simple program that breaks down all of the complex stuff about safety into 5 key steps to make it easy for people to understand.
The Induction is interactive and includes a video imbedded in the presentation that creates a real ‘humanistic’ approach. It’s almost like talking with a real person only you don’t have the interruption and distraction of small talk that usually happens in real conversations, this is a far more productive process.
Me: That sounds really interesting Barry, I bet that will appeal to many people who are looking for an efficient way to get through inductions. What else can you tell us about your program?
Barry: Well we all know that for people to work safely they must be motivated, so I’ve taken care of that too. I’ve included a carefully crafted message from me about how I believe that everyone needs to make safety a first priority.
I get feedback all the time about how inspirational and passionate I am about safety so I’m hoping to inspire others with my passionate message. I do this by telling stories about injuries I’ve had to deal with and about how I’ve had to talk to the families of injured workers and how this has affected me. It’s pretty inspiring stuff, people will be more motivated to work safely after they hear me talk, it’s not every day that people get to hear from a humble thought leader like me.
Me: That sounds intriguing Barry, I bet people will line up to see it. So any last words on the induction process before we move on?
Barry: Yes one last and important point. One of the things that I get really frustrated about in safety is seeing generic safety programs. If organisations are going to ‘own’ safety, they need to move beyond the generic material and ‘make it their own’. That is why our program is highly customisable. For example, for a small extra fee, you can modify my induction video and have me mention the name of your company in my speech, plus you can add your logo and your safety slogan. This way people will know that your organisation takes safety seriously.
Me: So aside from induction, what other features do you think our readers would like to know about?
Barry: Well, we know how important effective supervision is for safety, so we’ve thought of that too. For those organisations that really want to create leaders who focus all of their attention and time on safety, they can link their site’s CCTV cameras to our system. This means that you can keep an eye on your teams by logging on anywhere where there is Internet access. If you catch anyone doing an unsafe act you can sound an alert that let’s the person know that they’ve been sprung. You can keep a watch over your workers 24/7, that’s real safety leadership in my book.
Me: Wow Barry, that seems like a very different type of leadership to what I’m used to, what type of feedback do you get from people about this aspect of things?
Barry: That’s a great question. Feedback is such an essential part of being an effective leader, so we seek it out when we get the time. The feedback that we got from the Supervisors is that they love it. In fact it was because of their feedback that we made some great efficiency improvements in the program just last week. So now, once you’ve stung someone for doing something stupid, all you need to do is go to a pick list in the program, put in the employee number, choose from the list of unsafe acts or stupid things people do and press enter. A warning letter is then automatically e-mailed to the worker, and a copied saved in their file.
We hear all the time about the importance of providing instant feedback and it doesn’t get much more instant with that. Our Safety and Health Is Tutelary program really does make your leaders world class in safety.
Me: It sounds like you’ve got safety control all sorted Barry, however I’m a little concerned about the legal aspects of your program, what can you tell us about that side of things?
Barry: Great point, legal compliance is everything and it’s very important to know that the program is fully compliant with all health and safety laws. We have template policies, procedures, risk assessments and forms for your every need.
While I’m acknowledged as a subject matter expert in safety, to be extra sure with the legal side of things, I engaged my good mate and legal guru Denis Denuto to cast his eye over my program. I’m pleased to say that Denis has certified it fully compliant with all laws (note that ‘certified’ means that Denis reckons that it’s all pretty good and meets the ‘vibe’ of the legislation).
Dennis has even developed a disclaimer that is built into the ‘sign on page’ that means whenever anyone in your organisation logs on, they instantly agree to follow all of the rules, all of the time. All your workers need to do is hit “Accept” before they start work. We’ve modelled this on the successful approach taken by Apple for their ITunes Terms and Conditions. To make sure that we don’t miss anyone, we’ve set up a rule that means that people can’t be paid until they do this, so it makes sure everyone clicks the button.
Could full compliance be any easier than that?
Me: It sounds like you have designed a program that many people working in risk and safety will be inspired by Barry, is it any wonder you are considered as one of industries thought leaders.
Barry: I know, it’s not easy being at the top of your game, but it’s something I work hard at.
Me: Thanks Barry, and good luck. I’m sure you’ll be inundated with people who want to create more control in their workplace.
I hope you enjoyed hearing about Barry’s leading edge ideas and thoughts; he really is a thought leader in risk and safety. Thankfully though, I’m still not that into safety……
What are your thoughts about Barry’s new program?
Author: Robert Sams
Phone: 0424 037 112
Email: robert@dolphyn.com.au
Web: www.dolphyn.com.au
Facebook: Follow Dolphyn on Facebook
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