How can safety managers establish effective communication with frontline employees?

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In the security industry, how managers in security departments can establish effective communication with front-line employees is a persistent problem. What is effective communication? Transferring one’s own needs to the other party, with that party being willing to accept and gladly embrace the information provided, is what constitutes effective communication. Why is communication considered a persistent problem in the field of safety management? The target group in safety management are frontline employees, who share certain common characteristics: across various industries, many frontline employees tend to have low educational levels, limited social experience, and an incomplete understanding of things. This inevitably leads to differences in understanding between managers and those who are managed regarding the same matter. Many safety managers encounter such groups; it’s like a scholar facing soldiers – no matter how reasonable one’s arguments, it can be difficult to convince them. Even if you possess great skills, it can sometimes be hard to persuade these people. What force drives some people to take risks and sacrifice their safety? They don’t actually intend to give up safety measures on purpose; sometimes it’s merely to speed up work and skip the safety-related steps. A compassionate heart tells us to let them go! They had no choice but to do it. However, the devil of accidents does not choose to remain unseen. It is precisely because such groups have their particularities that we need to change our way of communicating with them: reduce scolding in daily work, opt for a more effective approach of guiding them patiently, use conversation instead of orders, and education instead of punishment. For example, there was an employee holding onto the material being lifted by a crane. Two different ways of communicating led to different outcomes: if a safety officer ran over and said, \"Don’t you know that’s very dangerous?\" Is it seeking death by holding on like that? Measures such as issuing a fine to you are necessary. Put yourself in their shoes: if we were the ones being managed, we would definitely resist such reprimanding style of management, feeling resistant, which in turn would increase the risk level. If the safety officer went over and said, \"Sir, what are you lifting? It’s such a heavy object. Look at that lifting rope being used in this way – aren’t you worried it might break one day?\" It is recommended not to stand below in the future; better to be cautious, stand at a distance, as it won’t hinder work either. Anyone could accept such communication. When managing, safety officers should maintain patience and show more care, which helps to accomplish safety tasks more effectively. To achieve effective communication, it is necessary to consider things from their perspective; one cannot rely solely on supervision and command. Effective safety measures must be developed based on actual circumstances – it’s not possible to apply the same theory everywhere. Things are easier to manage, but people vary greatly in terms of their characteristics. Effective communication requires both parties to bring up their respective issues for discussion; it cannot be managed unilaterally. We need to take into account their interests while ensuring safety. Similarly, those who are managed must understand the work of managers, as the goals of managers align with those of those being managed.