One of the biggest mysteries in hazardous work is why well-trained people do not follow their company’s safe work practices. The utility industry is no exception. Utilities and their contractors, for the most part, go to great lengths to ensure that workers know the rules, have the proper personal protective equipment, and have the tools they need to do their jobs safely. Yet every year fatalities and injuries occur at alarming rates. After years of research, the answer is clear: the gap between knowing and not doing is much bigger than the gap between knowing and not knowing.

It’s quite simple to observe that the gap between knowing and not knowing is easily overcome through training and education. Utilities provide some of the best education of any industry, yet we continue to see example after example of devastating situations where people do not apply what they know. It makes any workplace or job a risky one when this occurs.

It’s not hard to see examples of the ‘knowing – doing’ gap in the workplace. On September 12, 2008, a train engineer in southern California ran a red warning light causing a head on collision with the Metrolink and a Union Pacific train, killing 25 and injuring hundreds of others. The contributing factor was that the engineer was text messaging while on duty. The engineer was presumably well-trained, yet ignored a basic safety procedure, ultimately causing human loss and suffering. Rarely does a week go by when we don’t hear about a serious injury in a power plant or utility field operation.

Unfortunately, the gap becomes all too real in investigations of a workplace fatality in which the injured person failed to follow basic safe work practices that could have easily prevented the incident. For instance, a recent review of a burn incident that occurred during restoration after a storm in 2008 showed that, although a proper pre-job briefing took place, the involved employees did not follow the steps that were determined to be the safest way to restore service – a prime example of the ‘knowing-doing’ gap. We’ve got to train people to be aware of the gap between what they know and what they do and why it’s important to close that gap.

If you’ve ever been to London and used the underground transit system, you’ve no doubt heard the recorded voice loudly proclaim, “mind the gap – mind the gap” to remind embarking and disembarking train passengers about the space between the platform and the train. What if we had a voice remind us to mind the gap between our knowledge and our actual performance? The problem is we all have ‘knowing-doing’ gaps. It’s part of human nature. For example, most of us know that exercise and proper nutrition will keep us healthy and help us live longer, more fulfilling lives. Yet, a majority of us don’t adhere to what we know to be true. It takes work to stay mindful of the gap and to know how to make choices to close it.

It’s essential that leaders recognize, and then do something about the gap. Think about your own workplace and answer the following questions:

1. What evidence of a gap in worker knowledge and application exists? Often leaders don’t look for the gap and therefore don’t know that it exists. Learn to observe workers, even your fellow workers, to determine if they understand and apply pertinent rules.

2. How are supervisors trained to deal with situations where workers aren’t accurately applying safe work practices? Remember that supervisors are often people who have come from the workforce and may not be trained in how to handle certain situations. Ensure that leaders from the front line all the way to the top of the organization know the safe work practices and how to deal with employees who choose not to follow them.

3. When is the last time your organization’s safe work practice training curriculum was reviewed for relevance and interest? Outdated and uninteresting training can create apathy toward learning and will lessen the opportunity for appropriate application of safe work practices. If you are responsible for training others, take time to review materials and make sure they are up to date and relevant for your workers. If you aren’t in charge of training, volunteer to review material and provide feedback.

Understanding and dealing with the gaps will help you recognize the mental models that individuals have that widen the gap between knowing and doing. Sometimes the gap results in tragedy and human suffering.

When it comes to safety, far too often workers, supervisors, and managers put up mental barriers to safety and they don’t even realize it . Yet, adopting an approach of readiness will help overcome -- and even remove -- many of the obstacles we have in our minds. Take a moment to understand what keeps you or your team from being mentally ready for the job.

Identifying the Mental Roadblocks to Safety
Consider the following five barriers found in employees’ minds, regardless of their levels in the organization:

1. “Accidents are just going to happen.” It’s surprising how many intelligent managers, supervisors, and employees have this barrier. This fatalistic belief creates an obstacle to organizational learning about safety. This attitude of hopelessness stifles creativity and improvement in the organization’s safety process.

2. “It won’t happen to me.” This barrier is a polar opposite to the previous one. This attitude prevents employees from taking responsibility for safety. This mental barrier to safety puts everyone around in danger – the employee, co-workers and sometimes customers or members of the public.

3. “I have enough experience or skill to take shortcuts.” This egotistical nature of this barrier causes individuals to resist coaching, feedback, and training that can help them work safe. This danger of this obstacle is that it often exists in the minds of more senior or experienced workers who set a poor example to those who are less experienced. It’s difficult to detect this barrier. When employees make excuses for not following the company’s safe work practices, this behavior sets a poor example for less experienced workers.

4. “I’ll do it just this once.” These words may be the last words of a fool. How often have you said this yourself or heard others say it? This phrase should be a big red flag to stop and assess the situation.

5. “Zero is impossible.” This is the mother of all safety barriers. This statement is an indicator of a huge barrier to an injury-free workplace. Ask yourself why you’d work where it’s not possible to work without injury. This barrier affects individuals and the entire organization because it shuts down efforts to create a zero injury culture.

Carefully consider these mental barriers to safety. You may find that you recognize them, or other obstacles, in yourself or your workgroup. These barriers pop up at different times, for various reasons. If you find yourself in a safety meeting thinking that you have already heard about the topic so many times, you just don’t want to hear it again – check your mental barriers. Or, you may notice a barrier pop up when you’re in a hurry. If so, stop and assess your mental readiness. Sometimes a barrier is a permanent one, so ingrained in our thinking that we don’t even recognize it. That’s why it’s important to first recognize the barriers, then work to understand the concept of mental readiness.

Four Guidelines to Close the Gap
1. Involve a cross-section of employees in a review of your current safety rule documentation. Ask them what rules are unclear or are difficult to apply or which ones they simply choose to ignore.

2. Get a copy of your safety manual or accident prevention book and a yellow highlighter. Mark every instance of the words “shall” and “will”. These words, while similar, carry different weights. The word “shall” means “without deviation” and the word “will” generally indicates a guideline. Can workers reasonably follow the rules that contain the word “shall”? Be sure that you ask the involved workers.

3. Use a safety expert to review the OSHA rules that are applicable to your industry. Does your safety manual include all these rules and, more importantly, are your employees aware of the proper application of these rules and the safe work practices for your organization?

4. Establish employee-management safety councils in your organization. Employee participants represent their peers and have access to management to discuss safety concerns. When management demonstrates their commitment to listen to and address issues promptly, such groups can be highly effective.

Engaging employees in these activities is a key factor for success. It will help them to “show up” mentally and physically, and bring their best efforts to work. One of the most important jobs of a leader – whether a crew leader or a company president – is to guide people to appropriately apply knowledge. Take time to first consider if you’re applying what you know about safety, then look around. Ask yourself what you can to do help others apply what they know. The result is that by closing the knowing-doing gap, you are reducing risk to employees, the public, and the company.

About the Authors
Carl Potter, CSP, CMC, CSP…The Safety StrategistSM…works with organizations that want to create an environment where nobody gets hurt. He is the author of the newly released book “I Am Safe – Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing.” As an advocate for zero-injury workplaces, he is a nationally-renowned safety speaker, author, and advisor to industry.

Deb Potter, PhD, CMC is a researcher, author, and speaker in the area of safety management. She is the author of “Simply Seamless Safety.”

For information about their programs and products, see www.potterandassociates.com or contact them at Potter and Associates International, Inc. 800-259-6209 or carl@potterandassociates.com.