This year’s Washington Governor’s Safety Conference was held in Spokane, Washington. I had the privilege of giving the keynote speech as their safety motivational speaker. I was preceded by the presentation of awards to several attendees for saving lives. The following clip is a sample of how I opened the conference.

In all my presentations, I make it a point to customize material for each audience. In this case, my keynote title was, “Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”tm The secret is to tie that topic to the specific needs of the conference attendees. As I sat in the audience, I realized beyond the nominated lifesavers being recognized that day, the room was full of safety professionals, safety team members, and leaders who were all life savers. That was the connection I made that day. The business we are in is that of saving people’s lives. Because of what you and I do people go home to their families safely every day.

Thank you for being the lifesaver you are and enjoy the video.

Leadership Support For Safety – Tuesday, November 22nd

Is Your Leadership Prepared to Support Your Safety Efforts?

In my talk, “Would You Watch Out For My Safety,” I point out how we have told people for years, “Be your brother’s keeper.” Yet, we don’t teach them how. In many ways, we do the same to our leadership, whether it is the first line supervisor or the CEO of the company.

Over the years, I have seen safety teams promote teaching people how to work safely. They organize great activities that encourage and motivate people to take on safety as one of their personal values. On the other hand, they spend very little time helping their leadership to be successful safety advocates.

Several years ago, I was asked to develop a special program for the leadership of a corporation. The president of the company called the meeting (so you knew everyone was going to attend) at which I spent several hours. The content of the meeting included committing those who may not already understand safety as a value to embrace it. I also attacked the mistaken belief that “accidents happen,” which some people still believe.

Next, I taught how to make safety a value for them and those who work for and with them.  Not everyone is good at sharing values and also it is common for people who hold safety as a value to send mixed messages that confuse those around them.

We then discussed their role as a safety leader. Often, leaders who hold safety as a value, fail to understand that they are in fact the real safety leader. They mistakenly assume the safety department or team is responsible.

If you want to sharpen the safety leadership skills of your management team have me come to your site and do my talk, “Safety For Leaders.” You will be pleased with the level of commitment and the skill your leadership will have in communicating a great safety message.

Many companies who are bringing me to their site to speak to employees have me come a month ahead to meet with the leaders to help them make the upcoming event a success.

Yours in service,

John Drebinger

Would You Like to Share This Article With Others?

This newsletter is the 10^th in a series of ten on how to have an effective safety kickoff. If you would like to share any of these articles go to http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690

where they have been posted on my daily blog. When reprinting or emailing please include credit to: John Drebinger Presentations 209-745-9419 and www.drebinger.com

Outcome Based Presentations For Your Safety Kickoff

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”
We tell everyone that they should be their “brothers keeper” and yet we don’t teach them how to do it. This presentation which accompanies my new book by the same title is designed to create a culture in your workplace where watching out for each other is the norm rather than the exception.

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?” will:
• Give people the five reasons they should watch out for the safety of others.
• Explain the three reasons people fail to watch out for the safety of others and then give them a perspective that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that keep people from helping others.
• Give them specific techniques they can use immediately to share safety with someone else in a way both people will feel great.
• Finally the most important lesson of the presentation is showing people how to respond when someone watches out for their safety. This lesson ensures that people will continue to watch out for each other and will seek out ways to watch out for the safety of their fellow worker.

This presentation is so powerful that John has written a book by the same title that is provided for each attendee so they can review what they have learned and share it with their family and friends. It has been so well-received that we have already made our second printing of 5,000 copies only four months after our releasing the book.

“Ensure Your Safety”
If you want people to take personal responsibility for their own safety on and off the job this presentation is for you.

Your employees will learn:
• Why they need to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
• How to stay focused in order to ensure safe performance.
• How distractions impact their personal safety.
• How to regain their focus on safety when distractions get in the way.
• Why they want to avoid shortcuts for themselves and others.

Everyone will develop a positive association between safety and their job and understand how working safely directly benefits them and their families, today and in the future. Using magic, group participation, specific safety principles and universal truths, John will show the seasoned worker why they play a vital role in helping the “new guy” work safely by avoiding shortcuts and doing everything the safest way we know how.

John shows them why using the appropriate personal protective equipment ensures their safety even when machinery fails or human errors occur. This presentation covers safety from the time they leave home to driving safely back to their family at the end of the day.
His unique presentation breaks through the mindset of, “We have heard it all before.” His magic captures their attention, and the message they hear will make them take action resulting in fewer injuries.

“Safety as a Value”
In this completely different program, John shows your employees how to improve their own safety by sending the right message via their actions and words at work and home.

Your Employees Will Learn:
• What their real values are.
• How to convey those values to their family and friends.
• Safety is a value for everyone.

The key to his insightful approach is the premise that safety must be a personal value, and that values don’t change when conditions change, even in tough times. John will help your people raise their expectations, vision, passion, and energy to work safely and make a safer and more productive workplace.

With new stories and magic, this presentation will help your employees continue their enthusiasm and focus toward another year of safety success!

What do you want from a safety presentation?
• People to walk out saying, “That was the best safety meeting they have ever attended.”
• Everyone to talk about the safety meeting long after it is over.
• You want all of the above and most of all you want to get results. It doesn’t matter if everyone loved the speaker, their message, and yet they don’t change how they work.

John Drebinger is the only top safety speaker specifically trained to deliver an effective message. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Speech he has been a member of the National Speaker’s Association for over 16 years and has attended seminars from some of the most effective communicators in the nation.

From the descriptions listed above you have already noticed something that separates John Drebinger from other professional safety speakers. As an author and speaker he has many different presentations he can do for your employees. To help you deliver your safety message John customizes each of his presentations to convey your theme and concepts. Unlike many other safety speakers who have only one speech or story to tell, John has developed presentations that build on each other to help you improve your safety performance.

Logistics
John can do multiple presentations during the day so that all your shifts can hear his outstanding message. Diane Weiss his marketing director can help you with your scheduling as she has worked with hundreds of companies over the past twenty-one years and knows what will serve you best.

John’s presentations can be done in virtually any location. If you can safely gather an audience he can get his message to them.

These presentations are designed for employee meetings with 45 minutes to 1-hour time available.

Thanksgiving and Safety

Tuesday, November 15^th

Thanksgiving for Safety Performance

In January, we celebrate the safety successes of the previous year and commit to a better year ahead. Next week, we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. This week will be a great opportunity to remind people to give thanks for the safety performance we have had over the last year. Also, remind people that even if you have had fewer injuries than the year before, it was still a bad year for those who sustained an injury.

Remember, even if you didn’t have a better year than last year, it is important to realize that without everyone’s commitment to safety there would have been many more people hurt and certainly more severe injuries.

It is also worthwhile to give thanks for close calls that were not injuries. Too often, people fail to appreciate that a close call or a property damage event could have been much worse if not for luck or the grace of God, depending on how you look at the world.

Being Grateful For Those Who Watched Out For You

Another area to recognize is to think of those with whom you work who watched out for your safety over the past year. Make sure you thank them for caring enough to watch out for you and say something or take action.

Thanks From John Drebinger

I am thankful for the privilege of writing this newsletter to help you prevent injuries on and off the job. I appreciate the time you invest in reading this and I am especially thankful for all of you who have contacted me during the year telling me how you have used the information you have gained from this newsletter.

I am also grateful for each and every one of you who have given me the opportunity to speak in person to your fellow employees. I know it takes a great amount of faith to bring in an outside speaker and I thank you for that trust.

I am thankful for each and every audience I have been in front of this year. Whether it was a room of one thousand or five people in a control room, I value each and every audience member.

I am thankful for those of you who will be bringing me to your site this coming year. I look forward to helping your people watch out for each other’s safety.

Last but not least, I am grateful to Diane Weiss, Sandie Gilbert and my wife, Karen Drebinger, who handle all the arrangements so I can efficiently move around this world spreading the message of safety.

Thanks for what you do to get people home safely every day.

Yours in service,

John Drebinger

Would You Like to Share This Article With Others?

This newsletter is published every week.  If you would like to share any of these articles go to http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690

where they have been posted on my daily blog. When reprinting or emailing please include credit to: John Drebinger Presentations 209-745-9419 and www.drebinger.com

Outcome Based Presentations For Your Safety Kickoff

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”
We tell everyone that they should be their “brothers keeper” and yet we don’t teach them how to do it. This presentation which accompanies my new book by the same title is designed to create a culture in your workplace where watching out for each other is the norm rather than the exception.

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?” will:
• Give people the five reasons they should watch out for the safety of others.
• Explain the three reasons people fail to watch out for the safety of others and then give them a perspective that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that keep people from helping others.
• Give them specific techniques they can use immediately to share safety with someone else in a way both people will feel great.
• Finally the most important lesson of the presentation is showing people how to respond when someone watches out for their safety. This lesson ensures that people will continue to watch out for each other and will seek out ways to watch out for the safety of their fellow worker.

This presentation is so powerful that John has written a book by the same title that is provided for each attendee so they can review what they have learned and share it with their family and friends. It has been so well-received that we have already made our second printing of 5,000 copies only four months after our releasing the book.

“Ensure Your Safety”
If you want people to take personal responsibility for their own safety on and off the job this presentation is for you.

Your employees will learn:
• Why they need to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
• How to stay focused in order to ensure safe performance.
• How distractions impact their personal safety.
• How to regain their focus on safety when distractions get in the way.
• Why they want to avoid shortcuts for themselves and others.

Everyone will develop a positive association between safety and their job and understand how working safely directly benefits them and their families, today and in the future. Using magic, group participation, specific safety principles and universal truths, John will show the seasoned worker why they play a vital role in helping the “new guy” work safely by avoiding shortcuts and doing everything the safest way we know how.

John shows them why using the appropriate personal protective equipment ensures their safety even when machinery fails or human errors occur. This presentation covers safety from the time they leave home to driving safely back to their family at the end of the day.
His unique presentation breaks through the mindset of, “We have heard it all before.” His magic captures their attention, and the message they hear will make them take action resulting in fewer injuries.

“Safety as a Value”
In this completely different program, John shows your employees how to improve their own safety by sending the right message via their actions and words at work and home.

Your Employees Will Learn:
• What their real values are.
• How to convey those values to their family and friends.
• Safety is a value for everyone.

The key to his insightful approach is the premise that safety must be a personal value, and that values don’t change when conditions change, even in tough times. John will help your people raise their expectations, vision, passion, and energy to work safely and make a safer and more productive workplace.

With new stories and magic, this presentation will help your employees continue their enthusiasm and focus toward another year of safety success!

What do you want from a safety presentation?
• People to walk out saying, “That was the best safety meeting they have ever attended.”
• Everyone to talk about the safety meeting long after it is over.
• You want all of the above and most of all you want to get results. It doesn’t matter if everyone loved the speaker, their message, and yet they don’t change how they work.

John Drebinger is the only top safety speaker specifically trained to deliver an effective message. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Speech he has been a member of the National Speaker’s Association for over 16 years and has attended seminars from some of the most effective communicators in the nation.

From the descriptions listed above you have already noticed something that separates John Drebinger from other professional safety speakers. As an author and speaker he has many different presentations he can do for your employees. To help you deliver your safety message John customizes each of his presentations to convey your theme and concepts. Unlike many other safety speakers who have only one speech or story to tell, John has developed presentations that build on each other to help you improve your safety performance.

Logistics
John can do multiple presentations during the day so that all your shifts can hear his outstanding message. Diane Weiss his marketing director can help you with your scheduling as she has worked with hundreds of companies over the past twenty-one years and knows what will serve you best.

John’s presentations can be done in virtually any location. If you can safely gather an audience he can get his message to them.

These presentations are designed for employee meetings with 45 minutes to 1-hour time available.

#10 Food – Thursday, November 10^th

I have noticed that many of the most successful safety meetings and kickoffs include food as part of the event. Conversely, I have seen people take a negative view to a meeting when they arrived and there was no food or beverage. I suspect that had to do with previous meetings and expectations.

It seems there are regional differences. I know one Texas refinery that serves Kolaches (I hope I spelled that right) before the meeting. There are other regional favorites that are easy to hand out before the beginning of the meeting.

I think the most important factor is to be consistent with what you have done in the past. If they are used to having food or refreshments and you can’t provide them it is best to let them know ahead of time to eliminate disappointment. You can always exceed people’s expectations. Disappointment can really damage the results of a meeting.

Money, Budgets and Safety As A Value

Often, food is a budgetary consideration. It is important when looking at budgets to consider the real dollar investment of a safety kickoff. First, you have the time you and your team put in to make it a success. Unless you are a full time meeting planner, it means that you sacrificed some other task you and your team could have done for your company. Next, there is the cost of time that employees must take away from their job in order to attend your kickoff. Even for a short kickoff of one to two hours, people must leave their work location, transport themselves to where you are holding the meeting, spend time at the meeting, and then return to work. This is a real dollar investment of your company and it is a way I know the leadership is serious about safety being a corporate value.

There is a great quote that expresses commitment and dollars.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I understand money can be an issue. The key is whether or not your company invests its money equally amongst the areas they claim to be corporate values.

Corporate budgets do not have any room for waste. When you hold a safety kickoff you owe it to everyone to squeeze the most impact and results out of every dollar. The investment in a professional safety speaker like myself is nothing compared to the investment of employees’ and leadership’s time in attending and preparing for such a kickoff. This series of articles is designed to help you maximize your effectiveness even if you contact us too late to bring me in this season.  Better yet call today to set aside a date so that I can give you the best presentation your dollar can buy.

Dollars Are Invested In Safety and Have A High Return On Investment

For years, I have told safety professionals they should tell management how much profit the safety department generated for them. Leaders don’t get excited about savings; they get excited about profits. Do the math and let your leadership know how much more profit your company realized because of the outstanding results of the safety team. I would trade my fee any day for a percentage of the increased profit made by my clients because their people were safer after I spoke to them.

Thanks for what you do to get people home safely every day.

Yours in service,

John Drebinger

Would You Like to Share This Article With Others?

This newsletter is the 10^th in a series of ten on how to have an effective safety kickoff. If you would like to share any of these articles go to http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690

where they have been posted on my daily blog. When reprinting or emailing please include credit to: John Drebinger Presentations 209-745-9419 and www.drebinger.com

Outcome Based Presentations For Your Safety Kickoff

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”
We tell everyone that they should be their “brothers keeper” and yet we don’t teach them how to do it. This presentation which accompanies my new book by the same title is designed to create a culture in your workplace where watching out for each other is the norm rather than the exception.

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?” will:
• Give people the five reasons they should watch out for the safety of others.
• Explain the three reasons people fail to watch out for the safety of others and then give them a perspective that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that keep people from helping others.
• Give them specific techniques they can use immediately to share safety with someone else in a way both people will feel great.
• Finally the most important lesson of the presentation is showing people how to respond when someone watches out for their safety. This lesson ensures that people will continue to watch out for each other and will seek out ways to watch out for the safety of their fellow worker.

This presentation is so powerful that John has written a book by the same title that is provided for each attendee so they can review what they have learned and share it with their family and friends. It has been so well-received that we have already made our second printing of 5,000 copies only four months after our releasing the book.

“Ensure Your Safety”
If you want people to take personal responsibility for their own safety on and off the job this presentation is for you.

Your employees will learn:
• Why they need to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
• How to stay focused in order to ensure safe performance.
• How distractions impact their personal safety.
• How to regain their focus on safety when distractions get in the way.
• Why they want to avoid shortcuts for themselves and others.

Everyone will develop a positive association between safety and their job and understand how working safely directly benefits them and their families, today and in the future. Using magic, group participation, specific safety principles and universal truths, John will show the seasoned worker why they play a vital role in helping the “new guy” work safely by avoiding shortcuts and doing everything the safest way we know how.

John shows them why using the appropriate personal protective equipment ensures their safety even when machinery fails or human errors occur. This presentation covers safety from the time they leave home to driving safely back to their family at the end of the day.
His unique presentation breaks through the mindset of, “We have heard it all before.” His magic captures their attention, and the message they hear will make them take action resulting in fewer injuries.

“Safety as a Value”
In this completely different program, John shows your employees how to improve their own safety by sending the right message via their actions and words at work and home.

Your Employees Will Learn:
• What their real values are.
• How to convey those values to their family and friends.
• Safety is a value for everyone.

The key to his insightful approach is the premise that safety must be a personal value, and that values don’t change when conditions change, even in tough times. John will help your people raise their expectations, vision, passion, and energy to work safely and make a safer and more productive workplace.

With new stories and magic, this presentation will help your employees continue their enthusiasm and focus toward another year of safety success!

What do you want from a safety presentation?
• People to walk out saying, “That was the best safety meeting they have ever attended.”
• Everyone to talk about the safety meeting long after it is over.
• You want all of the above and most of all you want to get results. It doesn’t matter if everyone loved the speaker, their message, and yet they don’t change how they work.

John Drebinger is the only top safety speaker specifically trained to deliver an effective message. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Speech he has been a member of the National Speaker’s Association for over 16 years and has attended seminars from some of the most effective communicators in the nation.

From the descriptions listed above you have already noticed something that separates John Drebinger from other professional safety speakers. As an author and speaker he has many different presentations he can do for your employees. To help you deliver your safety message John customizes each of his presentations to convey your theme and concepts. Unlike many other safety speakers who have only one speech or story to tell, John has developed presentations that build on each other to help you improve your safety performance.

Logistics
John can do multiple presentations during the day so that all your shifts can hear his outstanding message. Diane Weiss his marketing director can help you with your scheduling as she has worked with hundreds of companies over the past twenty-one years and knows what will serve you best.

John’s presentations can be done in virtually any location. If you can safely gather an audience he can get his message to them.

These presentations are designed for employee meetings with 45 minutes to 1-hour time available.

Ten Elements of Creating an Effective Safety Kickoff

#9 Scheduling – Tuesday, November 8^th

When Is The Best Time To Hold A Safety Kickoff?

Simple, any time all your people can attend. Now, I know logistically that is a challenge for some of you. Because of your operations, it is impractical to get everyone together all at one time. You need a big place to hold everyone. You would have to shut down operations.

Some companies actually do a safety stand down day where they do nothing but health and safety events. This is great if you can do it.

More commonly, safety teams schedule two to three meetings per day for one or a series of days in order to allow all shifts to attend. I am pleased to say I have done many presentations after 11pm at night so that we were able to involve the night shift. Making it possible for them to enjoy the same kickoff as everyone else does a lot for morale and lets them know you really care about them.

My marketing director, Diane Weiss, is an expert at scheduling and she can share with you the different ways our clients have made it possible for everyone to be a part of your kickoff. Not every speaker is willing to adapt to multiple shifts, but I can.

Also, location is not critical. I have spoken next to a turbine at a hydroelectric dam on the Columbia River. One construction supply company used a stack of sheet rock as a stage with rails. Turnaround or Outage lunchroom tents have served as my speaking venue many times over the years. One refinery rented chairs and used their firehouse to hold the meeting. I am sure you get my point. I can speak anywhere and as long as you get me in front of an audience, I can help them work safely.

Should Attendance at Safety Kickoffs and Meetings be Mandatory?

As with much of safety communication, congruency tells the real story. The answer for me is achieved by asking a follow-up question. Are your marketing meetings mandatory? If all your other departmental meetings are mandatory, and if safety isn’t, it sends the message that safety isn’t one of your company’s corporate values.

I actually prefer mandatory meetings, as that way I know no one will miss my message. It is so frustrating for me to be leaving a site heading for the airport and finding myself talking with someone in the parking lot who asks if I will be doing meetings the next day because they heard how great it was and now they want to attend.

Lunch Versus a Dedicated Meeting

Safety and the messages you want to get across are far too important to stack on top of lunch unless the presentation is done after or before everyone has eaten. The distractions are just too great. Have I done luncheon presentations? Yes, but I know they are less effective than they could be. Once again, it speaks of the value your leadership puts on safety. If there isn’t time to do it right then everyone understands that safety takes a back seat to everything else.

Call Diane to find out the best schedule for your safety kickoff at 209-745-9419.

Would You Like to Share This Article With Others?

This newsletter is the 9^th in a series of ten on how to have an effective safety kickoff. If you would like to share any of these articles go to http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690

where they have been posted on my daily blog. When reprinting or emailing please include credit to: John Drebinger Presentations 209-745-9419 and www.drebinger.com

Outcome Based Presentations For Your Safety Kickoff

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”
We tell everyone that they should be their “brothers keeper” and yet we don’t teach them how to do it. This presentation which accompanies my new book by the same title is designed to create a culture in your workplace where watching out for each other is the norm rather than the exception.

“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?” will:
• Give people the five reasons they should watch out for the safety of others.
• Explain the three reasons people fail to watch out for the safety of others and then give them a perspective that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that keep people from helping others.
• Give them specific techniques they can use immediately to share safety with someone else in a way both people will feel great.
• Finally the most important lesson of the presentation is showing people how to respond when someone watches out for their safety. This lesson ensures that people will continue to watch out for each other and will seek out ways to watch out for the safety of their fellow worker.

This presentation is so powerful that John has written a book by the same title that is provided for each attendee so they can review what they have learned and share it with their family and friends. It has been so well-received that we have already made our second printing of 5,000 copies only four months after our releasing the book.

“Ensure Your Safety”
If you want people to take personal responsibility for their own safety on and off the job this presentation is for you.

Your employees will learn:
• Why they need to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
• How to stay focused in order to ensure safe performance.
• How distractions impact their personal safety.
• How to regain their focus on safety when distractions get in the way.
• Why they want to avoid shortcuts for themselves and others.

Everyone will develop a positive association between safety and their job and understand how working safely directly benefits them and their families, today and in the future. Using magic, group participation, specific safety principles and universal truths, John will show the seasoned worker why they play a vital role in helping the “new guy” work safely by avoiding shortcuts and doing everything the safest way we know how.

John shows them why using the appropriate personal protective equipment ensures their safety even when machinery fails or human errors occur. This presentation covers safety from the time they leave home to driving safely back to their family at the end of the day.
His unique presentation breaks through the mindset of, “We have heard it all before.” His magic captures their attention, and the message they hear will make them take action resulting in fewer injuries.

“Safety as a Value”
In this completely different program, John shows your employees how to improve their own safety by sending the right message via their actions and words at work and home.

Your Employees Will Learn:
• What their real values are.
• How to convey those values to their family and friends.
• Safety is a value for everyone.

The key to his insightful approach is the premise that safety must be a personal value, and that values don’t change when conditions change, even in tough times. John will help your people raise their expectations, vision, passion, and energy to work safely and make a safer and more productive workplace.

With new stories and magic, this presentation will help your employees continue their enthusiasm and focus toward another year of safety success!

What do you want from a safety presentation?
• People to walk out saying, “That was the best safety meeting they have ever attended.”
• Everyone to talk about the safety meeting long after it is over.
• You want all of the above and most of all you want to get results. It doesn’t matter if everyone loved the speaker, their message, and yet they don’t change how they work.

John Drebinger is the only top safety speaker specifically trained to deliver an effective message. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Speech he has been a member of the National Speaker’s Association for over 16 years and has attended seminars from some of the most effective communicators in the nation.

From the descriptions listed above you have already noticed something that separates John Drebinger from other professional safety speakers. As an author and speaker he has many different presentations he can do for your employees. To help you deliver your safety message John customizes each of his presentations to convey your theme and concepts. Unlike many other safety speakers who have only one speech or story to tell, John has developed presentations that build on each other to help you improve your safety performance.

Logistics
John can do multiple presentations during the day so that all your shifts can hear his outstanding message. Diane Weiss his marketing director can help you with your scheduling as she has worked with hundreds of companies over the past twenty-one years and knows what will serve you best.

John’s presentations can be done in virtually any location. If you can safely gather an audience he can get his message to them.

These presentations are designed for employee meetings with 45 minutes to 1-hour time available.