Under the Influence – Attitudes

Winston Churchill once said “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

In the context of health and safety attitudes within a work team, most of us would consider that an understatement.

Another famous leader once said, “Why do I do the things I know I should not do, and why don’t I do the things I know I should?”

That is a paraphrased excerpt from a biblical text from around two thousand years ago. The statement speaks volumes about human nature as it relates to the challenges we face as safety and health professionals.

Attitude is defined in many ways, but in general, it is simply a personal view or opinion which may or may not be acted upon.  Influence, for the sake of this article, is defined as the power that somebody has to affect another person’s view or opinion by means of argument, example, or force of personality. Attitude might be a small thing, as Mr Churchill said, but the way attitude influences behaviors at the worksite can mean the difference between life and death.

Experts say that our personal attitudes are formed early in life by interactions with those we respect, but become more personalized with experience and maturity. Rewards for certain behaviors and admonishment for others figure heavily into the equation. We are also influenced by co-workers, supervisors or managers throughout our working careers. Some of us are easily influenced while being influential comes naturally to others. Since attitude is such a personal thing, consider these personal questions.

  • What is your present general attitude regarding safety and health and how was it formed?
  • Do you often take shortcuts or are you “on the road to perfection” as a well-known theologian once stated. Is your safety and health attitude easily influenced?

A father was approached to allow his son to befriend another young man with a bad reputation. The parents of the other young man explained that if only he had a positive influence in his life, it could help him tremendously. The father’s counsel was rather animated to his son. “You are way up here, and he is way down here” the father gestured with his hands. “It is ok if you can help bring him up, but if you begin dropping to his level, you have to cut the strings.” The young man reassured his parents that he would be just fine and to trust him. The friendship progressed, and results were promising. Over time, however, problems ensued and they both found themselves in serious trouble.

From the ordeal came several valuable lessons which can be applied in our own families and in the workplace. Trust but verify, never take the power of a strong personality with a negative attitude lightly, and make certain that possible consequences are discussed and fully understood.

Going back to the quotes, again with all due respect to Mr Churchill, attitudes in the workplace are undoubtedly very big things that nearly always make a huge difference in the workplace. Secondly, we can count on human behavior, even our own, to not always make sense. Our behavior is sometimes dictated by emotions, which can cause us to be impulsive and can result in incidents.

Most of us have chosen the Safety and Health profession because we care about our fellow man and seek to make a difference. This includes leading by example and working to understand the issues workers face from their perspective. We cannot control someone else’s attitude, but we can diligently work to be a positive influence and motivate them.

And a bonus quote from Thomas Edison:

“If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”