The reason is simple enough – the easier a sign is to read, the less a driver’s attention is taken from the road to read the sign. One of the interesting aspects of this idea is that it applies only to positive contrast signs – light letters on a dark background. In the examples shown here of negative contrast, the Clearview type is possibly less effective than the current standard. It has been recommended that signs with negative contrast remain under the old standard.

The Clearview decision was made in 2004, with an expectation that signs would change over to that font in the following 15 years.

I researched what I could on this topic, and there is a lot of science behind it all, including the studies on the negative contrast. In some areas of government, they might have concluded that until they can find a type style that is more effective in all situations, then they shouldn’t make the change. But in this case, the benefits of changing a majority of the signage outweigh the possibility of a one-type-works-for-all solution.

Will we ever know if this saves lives? Not likely. And since money is spent on new signage routinely (signs get damaged, stolen, or weathered) it does not have a significant financial impact. I’m glad there is some science behind the choice, that our highway engineers are looking for ways to make our roadways just a little bit safer. If you have any exposure to continuous improvement, you realize this is worth looking at.

Do you think signs matter to you? I’m not sure I read them much where I live, and when I am in unfamiliar areas, my GPS pretty much tells me what I need to know. What do you think – will emerging technologies make this a non-solution? Will sign readability not be a critical issue in the future?

Driving is hazardous. It also can be time-consuming, particularly if you live far from work or take a crowded commute. And as I pointed out on my list last week, people sometimes compromise their safety in the name of expediency – they text while driving.

In the world of industrial safety, companies who excel do not depend on the law to tell them what they can or cannot do. They do the things that must be done to assure employee safety. No doubt, many factories are safer than they might otherwise be due to OSHA regulation and supervision, but the best don’t need that. You shouldn’t either.

You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there is a technological fix you can apply to prevent texting while in a moving vehicle. For Android phones, you can buy Textecution, which is advertised as something to put on your teenager’s phone.

Then there’s TXTBlocker, which again is advertised to parents. And Employers.

And coming soon, you can buy iZup (get it, eyes up) for Android and Windows smartphones.

Call records will easily show if you were texting near the time of an accident. But do you really need a software solution? What you really need is a personal discipline solution. If you, as an adult or parent cannot see or understand that this is a dangerous problem, then don’t lecture your kids. If you can, then teach your kids to manage it. Sure, you can pay for the software to prevent it, but there are always going to be new ways to work around software, and kids will figure it out.

Trust but verify. Check the phone records against the time you know your son or daughter was out. They will tell you and you can take the appropriate action. And in the meantime, lead by example. Don’t send or read text messages while you are operating your vehicle. It can wait. Text with integrity.

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

Culture is, in a way, a misleading word. It is a collective noun. It represents a collection of attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, rituals, totems, and whatever else one tries to look at to define a culture. In business, this includes results.

The most important part is you. By your leadership, your actions, your statements, and your attitudes you communicate your personal part of culture. I could work for a company with a strong culture of safety controls, but that doesn’t define who I am. Maybe I have even stronger (or weaker) views of controls.

When you have an idea, an innovation that can bring a higher level of performance, people want to hear it. They want to understand the value of the idea, and they want to know what it takes to implement it. If it involves substantial change in what is expected of people, we may use “our culture” as the excuse to not proceed. But what about “our culture” can we tap into to make the idea work?

One of my blogging HR friends, Trisha McFarlane wrote an interesting post earlier this week regarding the legacy we leave with our workplace. For me, it’s not so much about what got done, but how I did it and what that means for the future of the company.

It’s not as important to me to measure how many people got hurt while I was a supervisor. It’s more important to me to know we eliminated several causes of recurring injury. It’s more important for me to know that when I left a role, the team’s view and ownership of safety was better than it was before. I don’t care if they credit me with that change, I just care that it happened.

What’s your safety legacy? Are you generating expertise that will be better than you?

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

Peace-bound or not, it was odd to see people in all kinds of costumes walking around the convention and participating in the annual parade. As football fans from Virginia Tech and Alabama began their tailgating experience Saturday morning, soldiers, orcs, storm troopers, wizards and characters of all shapes and sizes walked down Peachtree Street in Atlanta. College football fans and avid Star Trek fans all gathered in the same place.

Walking through the vendor areas I heard expressions I quite possibly have never heard before.
“Why, that is a fine sword indeed.”
“But an elf would never wear a vest like that.”
“These Wolverine claws can be used as a dicer in the kitchen.”
“Are you interested in upgrading your armor?”

An armor upgrade. Why yes, the perfect solution.
How many times do we propose solutions that we believe protect an employee, but instead we weigh them down with unneccesary burden. Things that don’t help them do their job better, but reduce performance.

In safety, that comes in the expectation to don more PPE – Personal Protective Equipment. In grievance resolution, we create a process to prevent future grievances of this type, but the process consumes organizational energy and resources that could be better placed improving the real processes of the organization. You know, the ones that make money and that should be better than what the competition does.

Do your employees think of protection and policies as armor, because contact is inevitable? Or do they recognize PPE as a seatbelt – you hope you never need it, but when it comes into play you are glad you have it on. More armor is just more cumbersome. That’s fine if you enjoy a role play and dress up a couple of times a year. But it is not the best solution for day to day.

Could you imagine a safety or policy improvement effort aimed at reducing cost by totally eliminating the need for a certain type of PPE? How about eliminating the need for knives as a tool, and coincidentally eliminating the need for cut-proof gloves? Or replace that eight page absentee policy with one page. If you can’t say it simply, you are managing the wrong thing.

It’s a dream, a fantasy perhaps. But sometimes a good dream leads to a real world solution.

Let’s be careful out there.

• We need the Explorer, who looks for what’s new and different in a situation. Sometimes she finds clues that we didn’t know existed.
• We need the Artist, who can take the information available and the colors, textures and details of a situation and create something new. New ideas, new solutions.
• Without the help of the Judge, we might sometimes head off in wrong directions. We count on this type to see clearly and make decisions that help move us forward.
• Of course the Warrior is critical to just getting things done sometimes.

In some workplaces, we assign one individual the responsibility for improving safety, but it is the rare person who can do it all alone. It takes partnership, teamwork, or whatever you want to call it.

It also take diversity. Remember that diversity is about differences in thought and capabilities as much as anything else.

Are you getting the most out of the diversity of thought available to you? It could make the difference in achieving your best possible safety result.
Thanks, and let’s be careful out there!

Your Judge checks against the defined principles and rules if the action taken was within guidelines or if the accepted practices were broken. Sometimes the judge is called upon to determine if a new recommended practice should replace a longstanding one. Is it safer? Is it easier to follow? Ask the judge.

We need all four aspects of these types, and yet we are usually not equally strong in each one. So when you are investigating, designing new practices, developing engineering solutions, or doing a job hazard analysis, it might help to make sure you bring all four viewpoints along. And if you can’t find them all in yourself, how about inviting others to participate? Give them a role and let them play it out. You might find yourself with a better solution and a stronger safety culture.

Is your judge harsh? Does the Judge stomp on the Artist, or shackle the Warrior? Is your Explorer too far out in front? Which is your strength?

Thanks, and let’s be careful out there.

Author Roger von Oech explains how it takes several different types of people to bring real solutions into being and make them last. I read the book and took a look at my new team. I was long on Warriors. These guys got their jobs by being fighters every day. They went out on the shop floor and worked side by side with the operators in problem solving and maintenance tasks. They barked orders and grabbed the reigns and made sure that stuff got done.

The next day they would do it all over again.

The problem with this behavior in leading safety is that you can’t power your way through safety issues. You can’t order people to be more safe, you can’t fight off an accident. If it happens it happens.

Are you a Warrior? Perhaps you are one of the other types. I’ll cover them in the next few Wednesdays and you can tell us all where you fit.

Let’s be careful out there.