A few years ago, I was asked in my role as a safety motivational speaker to speak at a major food industry tradeshow. One of the aspects of the tradeshow was that it was honoring women who had contributed to the industry. Indeed, as a keynote and break-out session speaker on safety I have met many women who have had outstanding careers in the safety prevention area. I am...
It’s Not About the PPE, It’s About the People As a virtual safety speaker and in-person safety speaker, I stress that safety is never about wall posters or personal protective equipment, it’s about the people. In fact, safety is a negotiation. People, Not Posters When I speak on safety, either virtually or face-to-face, I like to lead audiences through an exercise. I have them create a picture in their...
No One Builds from a Locked-Down Place I am a Virtual Construction Safety Speaker and in my virtual speaking on construction safety, I emphasize that no one builds from a locked down place. As the world still struggles in lockdown or semi-lockdown, construction has not stopped, but it is changing. Is your company ready? Cleaner & Safer Construction industry writer Jenn Goodman, in an article for Construction Dive (April...
What Makes a Good Virtual Safety Speaker?
I Can’t Be on The Job with You, But I Want My Words to Keep You Safe
What makes a good virtual safety speaker? It’s a question I’m frequently asked, and a subject I think about all of the time. It’s a kind of puzzle when you think about it. Safety at the Workplace is...
If Safety is #1, What Comes Next? In my talks as a Negotiating Safety Motivational Speaker, I often ask my audiences the following question: “So if safety is number one, what comes next?” The question is often met with blank stares, shrugs and sometimes humor, with answers including “Lunch,” “Going home,” or “Winning the lottery!” What Does Come Next? Truth is, I would argue that negotiating safety is the...
As a motivational speaker for safety and construction, I often start my safety keynote talks with the simple but important question of “What’s in Your Safety Gangbox?” It catches a lot of people off-guard, but it may be the most important question of all. From 2017 to 2018, OSHA reported that one out of every five workplace fatalities were in construction. In that period, almost 1,000 construction workers lost...
In my work as a motivational safety speaker and communication speaker, I know that everything contributes to safety. The safety negotiation as I call it demands that safety and communication go hand-in-hand. However, safety communication is an art as well as a skill. It must be practiced in every meeting and situation. Not long ago, I witnessed an interaction in a company that illustrates the good, bad and ugly...
As a motivational safety speaker who speaks about hazardous and non-hazardous work environments, I always get strange looks when I say the factory floor is usually safer than the marketing department. In fact, and most safety speakers won’t tell you this, we’re usually safer working in warehouses, construction sites, mixing huge batches or wiring an office building than we are in our own basements. Statistics Don’t Lie My motivational...
Why is being a safety motivational speaker so important to me? Earlier in my career, long before I was an executive and dressed in suits, I worked in production on the factory floor. I saw first-hand what happened to workers who took safety for granted. I am passionate about being a national safety speaker on safety topics and challenging organizations to reduce workplace injuries. More Aware, but Not Enough...
Too Many Signs, Not Enough Communication We should all know that communication skills are vital to safety. In fact, improving safety communications is a frequent topic in my safety keynote addresses and safety breakout sessions given by a breakout speaker. When there is a breakdown in communicating safety, people die or get injured. While employees understand the importance of safety, they often don’t get the message. At the end...
Change Management Speaker is critical when it comes to safety. As I deliver keynote speeches and lead breakout sessions to organizations on navigating safety change, I know the challenges but ultimately the benefits that change can bring. As opposed to many issues that affect companies, as a former production worker myself, I know what happens if safety regulations are ignored. Disregarding safety directly affects lives. Change management might be...
I often stress the importance of Negotiation Skills in my Safety Motivational keynote addresses. Why? Because emphasizing safety to transportation, manufacturing, food processing or refinery personnel is a continuous negotiation. Organizations understand the need for safety training, but to many employees it is just another boring meeting where they have to force themselves to stay awake. They walk into those meetings complacent, and they leave the same way. Why...
Safety Speaker “I’ve got your back, even if you don’t like it!” Data recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2017 showed the number of claims for serious back injuries to be 148,780. In addition, there were 311,330 claims for muscle tears and strains injuries. In studies of workplace-related injuries, overexertion from improper lifting and moving of objects accounts for more than 25% of all workplace injuries. In...
Safety Speaker How a Safety Speaker can benefit your Organization. Ensuring the safety of the employees, as well as the premises, is one of the primary components of running a successful organization. It is not merely about wearing the right safety gear and operating machinery as per the safety guidelines. In fact, it is much more than simply adhering to the safety best practices. Creating a safe work environment...
Why hire Safety Speaker Mike Hourigan? As a Safety Speaker, Workplace Safety is a concern whether employees require tactical gear or a desk and computer. And ensuring that workplaces are kept safe isn’t limited solely to regulations for uniforms and equipment in more physical jobs. Safety Speaker Mike says that there are so many other aspects of workplace safety such as A Safety Speaker can improve employee communications and encouraging...
In this three-part series, Safety Speaker Mike Hourigan will be examining everyday decisions that affect workplace safety. Part 3: Last time, we got into workplace safety and why fostering an organizational culture that prioritizes employee safety and inclusion is one of the best decisions that managers can make. There's many different facets of safe workplaces like encouraging open communication, following physical safety compliance procedures, and ensuring that employees don't feel...
In this three-part series, Safety Speaker Mike Hourigan will be examining everyday decisions that affect workplace safety. Part 2: Last time, we got into how managers often face risky decisions when it comes to workplace safety. There's concerns not just for very physical jobs and complying with laws as well as procedures, but also in creating and fostering a culture that values employee safety. Are your decisions creating a...
In this three-part series, Safety Speaker Mike Hourigan will be examining everyday decisions that affect workplace safety. Part 1: Workplace safety isn't solely about making sure the right tools and protective gear are on hand and staying compliant with all regulatory and organization-wide compliance procedures. Making sure that people are safe at work also isn't limited to workplaces with highly physical aspects and their subsequent regulations like construction sites and restaurants. Managers...
Workplace safety is of utmost importance when you're dealing with dangerous chemicals in labs or raw materials likely to hurt people on construction sites. There's federal and state regulations to comply with along with additional safety protocols set by management. But safety isn't just about adhering to laws and making sure that your employees are paying attention when operating heavy machinery. It's about creating a culture of workplace safety...
Good communication may be paramount to understanding and absorbing the safety message. But what's also incredibly important for good communication skills is being a good listener. When it comes to workplace safety in particular, people may think about physical protections like PPE and hard hats. But while those things are designed to protect your body from the harm that equipment can inflict, they don't develop or protect one's ability...