You Know Safety

But Admit It.....

You Don’t Know Communication
Fixing Safety Communication in Oil Refineries

Dr TJ Larkin & Sandar Larkin

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 You Send Way Too Much

If employees read all the safety information you sent, refineries would look like this:

After Information Overload

Apparently the theory is: send tons of stuff and something Providing More Information Lowers Performance
might stick.

This is a bad theory. point of information

overload
Performance Quality

More than 50 years of communication research shows:

When people have no information, giving them some

improves their performance.

However, once people are saturated with information

(information overload) the more information you give performance performance
them, the less total information they use, and the improving worsening
worse their performance.

Source: O’Reilly
Amount of Information Provided

Source: Chewning

After information overload, why does more information lower performance?

Before information overload, employees can concentrate exclusively on understanding.

After information overload, employees have more information than they can understand.

Now they must begin selecting which information to think about.

The more information you give them, the more time and energy they spend on selecting.

“Selecting” is stealing resources from “understanding” resulting in poorer performance.

Source: Iastrebova

available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz 3 Larkin Communication Consulting

 The poor quality of your safety communication is what enables your information overload.

Fixing it is easy.

Number of people Dramatic improvement Information overload

doing communication in communication disappears
remains constant quality

Th
e res
to
ft
his
rep
ort
sh
It takes more time and effort to do high-quality communication. ow
sh
Once a commitment is made to communicate better, safety communicators will:
ow
to
do
. choose their topics more carefully (moving “selection” from receivers to senders) thi
. spend considerably more time preparing each piece of communication s.
. and consequently, produce much less of it

If You End Information Overload

Refinery Supervisors and Frontline Employees Will:

Use more information Non-overloaded employees use source: Chewning

25% more information than
overloaded ones

Remember more of it High-quality communication source: David

improves recall by 75%

Perform better High-quality communication source: Mayer

improves problem-solving by 100%

4
 4% of People Can Understand An Average Safety Email

Reading Levels Safety communication in refineries is here*

16th grade level
4% of U.S. population can understand
16

15 15th grade level

MicroSoft Word Manual
7% can understand

Grade levels matter.

The correlation between the grade
level of the text and its comprehension
is large (r = 0.70)
Source: DuBay

Here is the gap

you must close

10 10th grade level

New York Times
33% can understand

Average adult reading level (U.S.)

7th grade level**

7th grade level

Tom Clancy novels
50% can understand

5 5th grade level Technical communicators recommend:

TV Guide/Cosmopolitan 5th to 7th grade level.
68% can understand Optimizes percent who can understand; while
maintaining enough linguistic complexity to
communicate technical information.

3rd grade level

National Enquirer
80% can understand

1 3 oil refineries; 1 chemical refinery (4 separate companies)
Sources: DuBay, Montondon
* **
Sample: U.S. adult average reading level is 7th grade.
For most adults, reading skills decline over time. So, on average,
8 frontline supervisors gave us 3 samples of safety communication an adult’s reading level is 5 grade levels lower than the last grade
randomly selected from their email inboxes he/she actually completed. Adults with reading levels below 5th
24 total pieces of safety communication studied grade rarely use print to get information. Instead they rely on oral
average grade level 15.5 sources (TV/radio, family and friends).
Flesch-Kincaid readability formula
Sources: Aldridge, Brownson
16th grade level
grade 16 = 12 years (elementary/high school) + 4 years (university)
4% of U.S. population can understand

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 Grade 16 to Grade 5 (Example: Fin-Fan Accident)

Background: A contractor was taking down scaffolding located on top of a fin-fan cooler. The fan
blades were covered by a fence-type cage mesh. Unfortunately this cage mesh was torn in places.
The contractor accidently stepped on the torn mesh, his leg broke through and was cut by the
rotating blades. Later, in hospital, his leg was amputated below the knee.

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m ders to force the imp additional
as s e s s
c to r te a m le a
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ntra ams nsu e of
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Fixing the Mistakes

Improved communication
1. Planners will decide who does the risk assessments.
Put this in the Planner’s job description.

68% of adults can understand 2. The person signing the clearance certificate will also inspect
the work site.
Grade level: 5
Words: 91 3. Somebody should think of a way to spot bad risk assessments.

4. Supervisors please tell your teams:

. Every job, even small ones, needs a Work Pack.
. If the work changes the Pack changes.
. Risk assessments matter. This person lost his leg.
5. If you can sign a work permit, you must get new risk training.

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 Some Safety Communication is Bad–Some is Worse

Safety communication at refineries is bad. Sometimes it’s worse than bad. Some,
we believe, is meant to intimidate. Some communication is meant to separate
people: the supposedly “smart” people, who possess this impenetrable vocabulary,
from supervisors and frontline employees who don’t.

1% of adults can understand

ea 3
Inspection to Begin in Ar
Risk-Based
de
nnel are to ma Grade level: 21
Contract perso of
tor s, Ma int enance, and co nd uc tin g an analysis
era team will be
All Area 3 Op
aware tha t Ris k-B as ed Inspection pa rt of the refinery’s eff
orts to Words: 210
an ongoing
equipment as
all pressured
ss safety.
improve proce rating both qu
alitative
dology integ e and
a risk metho lihood of failur
Ris k-B as ed Inspection is
e pro ce ss es for co mb ini ng both the like
es tab lish a priori ed
tiz list of Translation: Look out! The big-brain people are
tiv y, to ity
and quantita systematicall e added activ
the conseque
nce of failure,
us ing a tot al risk basis.
This high-valu
do log y for determining coming to Area 3.
ment le metho
pressure equip l, documented, repeatab pection
ica encies and ins
provides a log pection frequ
um co mb ination of ins
the optim
ods.
scopes/meth nery’s other
gress but wo
rks in harmon
y with the refi
RCM, and the
Inspection Translation: You will probably never
no t tra ns ZO P, ope
RBI do es es including
HA ervals and sc understand this–but don’t say I didn’t try.
lated initiativ ed inspection int such as
inspection-re ram . RBI rec om me nd
s an d stand s,ard
nt Pr og on co de
Manageme ustry inspecti (Process Pip
ing
alidate the ind de), API-570 ). RBI
in no way inv Inspection Co ction Standard
sure Vessel e Tank Inspe owing
API-510 (Pres an d API-6 53 (S tor ag
ing va luable inp ut all
Co de ), pro vid
Inspection mendations
opera tes wit hin these recom
d inspecti on res ou rce s. Translation: If you think this is impressive–you
of often limite mber of
optimization sis yields a nu
istently appli
ed RBI analy used should see me in my Speedo.
reh en siv e and co ns
du cti vit y an d reliability, foc ,
A co mp sed pro ance costs
luding: increa and mainten improved
objectives inc ed inspection ulations, and
ources, reduc r insurance reg
inspection res tor y an d/o
lia nc e wit h regula
comp
turnaround pla
nning. Translation: See, I told you, you wouldn’t be able
to understand it.

New Inspection Team Working in Area 3

They are doing Risk-Based Inspection.

Improved communication Deciding how frequently to inspect equipment.

They will look at:

All pressured equipment in Area 3.
60% of adults can understand This includes: piping, vessels, columns, reactors,
tanks, pumps, and heat exchangers.

Grade level: 6 They will give each piece of equipment a risk number.
Words: 127
This risk number comes from two estimates.
#1 Chances this piece of equipment will fail.
15 grade levels lower than the original #2 How big a disaster that failure would cause.

After all equipment has a risk number, we will know.

The highest-risk piece of equipment in Area 3.
The lowest-risk piece of equipment in Area 3.
And the risk ranking of all equipment in between.

How inspections will change.

More inspections for high-risk equipment.
Same inspections for middle-risk equipment.
Fewer inspections for low-risk equipment.

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 Many Safety Professionals Are Not Adding Value

Imagine a refinery that pumps in crude from tankers and then, at the other end, pumps out crude to
terminals. That’s how many safety professionals work.

Safety professionals receive communication from the outside (e.g. API, OSHA, CSB) then pump
out the exact same communication to refinery supervisors. This is wrong. If communication
arrives on the desk of a safety professional, it should leave better than it arrived.

A summary, like this one, should

This safety alert was emailed to supervisors
have been attached before
exactly as received from FPS (UK)
emailing this 12-page alert to
supervisors.
Pages: 12
Words: 5,000 Summary
Grade level: 7 Summary - Tank Rupture in Europe pages: 1
words: 310
What Happened? grade level: 5
Crude tank ruptured in Rotterdam.
Crude burst through a hole in tank floor.
Water erosion caused the hole.
No one was hurt.
Tank emptied in only 15 minutes.
Whole bund (40,000 m2) filled with crude 1 meter deep.

How did the water erosion happen?

Tank was filled for the first time in 1971.
The earth foundation under the tank was not secure.
Under the load, some sand/rock gave away leaving an empty space.
The unsupported section of the tank bottom depressed into the space.
This formed a gutter (35 m long, 20 cm wide) along the tank floor.
Water collected in this gutter and began eating away the bottom.
Eventually a small hole formed and crude began leaking out.
Over time, the tank’s foundation became saturated with oil.
Under the weight of the tank, the saturated foundation slipped away.
Unsupported, the crude burst through the bottom.

Why internal inspections didn’t find the gutter forming in the floor.
In 1991, the tank was inspected inside but the gutter disappeared.
Of course, crude was removed for the 1991 internal inspection.
Without the weight of the crude, the floor sprung back into shape.
And, the gutter disappeared.
When the tank was refilled, the gutter returned.
Water collected again and the corrosion continued.

Why ultrasound missed the gutter.

Ultrasound was used to measure the thickness of the tank’s floor.
But, they didn’t ultrasound the entire floor.
Instead, they sampled the floor, drawing a big chalk “X” on the floor.
They only did ultrasound along the path of the “X”.
Unfortunately, the gutter didn’t touch any part of the “X”.
Using their eyes, they visually inspected the entire floor.
But, they were looking for “pitted” corrosion.
This corrosion was uniform and smooth.

Not a “freak” incident.

After the incident, similar gutters were found in 7 tanks in this farm.

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 The Way You Send It–They Can’t Use It

You keep sending text–your supervisors need pictures.

We are not talking about throwing in a bunch of pictures to illustrate points in the text. No. We
are talking about hand drawing one simple diagram that captures the major points you are trying
to communicate.

Do this for two reasons:

1. Pictures dramatically increase comprehension of technical information (often by 100%).
2. Supervisors are projecting your emails onto screens during their safety meetings.

Sending all this text is convenient for safety professionals but hell for frontline supervisors.

ion Trauma
thostatic In tolerance/Suspens
“Now this safety bulletin is on Safety Bulletin: Or
symptoms: light-
Orthostatic Intolerance.” d by the following adache,
ance is characterize usea, dizziness, he
Orthostatic intoler tre mu lousne ss, fat igu e, na
est
lpit atio ns, fro m fall arr
headedness, pa longed suspension
Can you guys in the back read , and fainting. Pro can result in seriou
s
sweating, weakness sta tic into ler an ce which, in turn,
this? No? Well, ah, let me try to s can cau se ort ho
sys tem
potentially, death.
talk about it. physical injury, or
w one cause is
tic intolerance sho by death
causes of orthosta ousness, followed
Research into the vic e lea din g to un con sci
sus pen-
Ah, this thing, orthostatic suspension in a fall arr est de
risk associated wit
h pro lon ge d
intolerance, is something you utes. To reduce the plans to prevent
in less than 30 min uld imp lem en t
tems, employers sho signs and sympto
ms,
can get from your safety sion in fall arrest sys static intolerance
ge d sus pe nsi on s, identifying ortho as po ssi ble .
prolon t as quick ly
harness, and well, it can kill you. cue and treatmen
and performing res n to lose
obile and were see
vol un tee rs we re suspended imm is life thr eatening
I’m not exactly sure how this In tests, health y
utes. Such suspensi
on
not
as little as five min that casualties are
happens. consciousness in ed . Aft er res cue it is ess en tial
gro un d. The
is ne ed ding on the
and urgent rescue rescue or when lan s
flat at an y tim e either during the p the m in a sitt ing position with leg
laid kee
I know if you get it, you can die. t ma na ge me nt of the casualty is to min imu m of 20 min utes, even if
correc chest for a s can harm
or pulled up to the st-rescue procedure
And you get it from your safety either straight out ilur e to follow these po
sci ou s. Fa
harness, but I’m pretty sure they are uncon death.
sometimes lead to
we’re still suppose to use safety the casualties and a
olved with work at
tems, and others inv
harnesses. use rs of pe rso na l fall protection sys
cau tion s tha t mig ht need to be taken
All ing pre
aware of the follow
height, should be being in a suspend
ed position.
ua lty ater the
Look, I’m sorry, I don’t really in the eve nt of a cas
is sus pe nd ed wit hout moving, the gre
ge r a cas ua lty
1. The lon
understand this very well.

Let me ask around, get some

more information, and I’ll try to
get back to you next week.

Now let’s go to the next Safety

Bulletin............”

Supervisor

This supervisor looks like an idiot in front of his team.

But we are asking you: Who is at fault here? The supervisor, or the safety
professional who emailed this page to all the supervisors at his refinery.

available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz 9 Larkin Communication Consulting

 Supervisors Can Use This Communication Immediately
Hanging Like This May Kill Him
Surviving the fall is not the only danger
Hanging in the harness is dangerous too
Get him down quickly
He’s not OK
If he’s conscious tell him
to keep moving his legs
When he’s down...
Don’t Do This
His legs are full of too much “blue” blood.
If all that blood, with no oxgyen in it,
suddenly pours into this heart, it could kill
him.
available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz
Hanging like this, it takes about...
5 minutes to go unconscious
Less than 30 minutes to die
Legs are the problem:
Blood pools into his legs
If his legs don’t move, blood stays there
Heart can’t pump blood to his head
First, he faints
Then, he dies
When he’s down...
Sit or Kneel
Don’t lay him flat.
Keep him propped up in a sitting position.
No lying down for at least 20 minutes.
Give his heart time to adjust.
Source: Adapted from Seddon
10 Larkin Communication Consulting
 Good Safety Communication Has 3 Layers
Picture
Picture
Hanging Like This May Kill Him
Surviving the fall is not the only dange
Hanging in the harness is dangerous too. r.
Get him down quickly
He’s not OK.
If he’s conscious tell him to pump
or keep moving his legs
When he ’s down...
Don’t Do This
His legs are full of too much “blue” blood.
If all that blood, with no oxgyen in it, suddenly
pours into this heart, it could kill him.
Simple Text
Harness suspension: review and
evaluation of existing information
Prepared by Paul Seddon
for the Health and Safety Executive
CONTRACT RESEARCH REPORT
available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz
Simple Text Technical
We recommend:
One PDF document
Enter three Bookmarks
1. Picture (use “full screen view”)
2. Simple Text
3. Technical Docs
Attach any kind of file (e.g. Word)
using “Attachments” tab
Supervisors will project this picture onto a screen.
Hanging like this, it takes about...
5 minutes to go unconscious
Picture captures the major points of the safety message.
less than 30 minutes to die
r.
For an example (suspension trauma) see page 10.
y
Legs
L are the problem
Blood pools into his legs
If his legs don’t move,
blood stays there
Heart can’t pump blood to
his head
First, he faints
Then, he dies
When he’s down...
Sit or Kneel
Don’t lie him down. Keep him propped up.
In a sitting position.
No lying down for at least 30 minutes.
Give his heart time to adjust.
Source: Adapted from Seddon
Supervisors read this simple text before the meeting, or
more realistically, while walking to the meeting.
your legs are not helping your heart pump blood.
Normally, when you stand up, gravity pulls your blood down
into your legs. This is OK, because your legs help the heart
This is background information providing a little more
pump the blood back up.
Every time you use your legs, your leg muscles tighten, this
tightening pushes against the veins and blood is squeezed
back toward the heart.
If something goes wrong (the legs are not helping) the body
has a solution: fainting. This is why soldiers standing still in
formation (not using their legs) faint. Fainting flops the body
down on the ground making it easier for the heart to pump
depth than the picture. This enables supervisors to speak
with more authority and confidence.
without help from the legs.
The problem is: when you faint in a fall-arrest harness you
don’t flop down, you keep hanging there upright.
Never more than one page
Now the problem gets worse. You’re unconscious
so you are not struggling, not squirming around, not
using your legs at all.
Very quickly blood starts filling up in your legs. No matter
Around 200-300 words
how hard it tries, your heart can’t get blood to your brain,
you faint, and then die.
Death can happen in less than 30 minutes. Some doctors say
you can die hanging in a harness in 5 minutes.
Here are four important things to remember:
1. Get down quickly.
2. Keep using your legs.
3. If rescuing–tell victim to keep using his/her legs.
Times New Roman (or similar serif font)
Grade level 5th to 7th
4. During and after rescue, don’t lay the victim flat.
The longer a person was hanging–the more dangerous to lie
them flat. Instead, lean his/her back up against something,
for at least 30 minutes.
Even after rescue, the victim can still die. The person’s legs
are now full of blood. The blood has no oxygen in it. If that
no-oxygen blood immediately gushes back into the heart, the
heart can go into shock and stop beating. This is why the victim
3.5 inch line width
Lots of white space
For an example (suspension trauma) see page 12.
If supervisors want to go deeper–they can.
Technical
These are the technical documents underlying the
HSE
Health & Safety
Executive
picture and simple text.
Deliver this with the picture and simple text.
For example (suspension trauma) see: Paul Seddon’s
Harness Suspension: Review and Evaluation of
451/2002
Existing Information.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/crr_pdf/2002/crr02451.pdf
11 Larkin Communication Consulting
 Simple Text (Example: Suspension Trauma)

68% of people can understand

Hanging in a fall-arrest harness is dangerous because

Grade level: 5
your legs are not helping your heart pump blood. Words: 331

“Simple Text” is the background Normally, when you stand up, gravity pulls your blood
information enabling your down into your legs. This is OK, because when your legs
supervisors to confidently move they help pump the blood back up again.
discuss the topic in their safety
meetings. Every time you use your legs, your leg muscles tighten,
this tightening pushes against the veins and blood is
Simple Text
your legs are not helping your heart pump blood.

Normally, when you stand up, gravity pulls your blood down
into your legs. This is OK, because your legs help the heart
squeezed back toward the heart.
pump the blood back up.

Every time you use your legs, your leg muscles tighten, this
tightening pushes against the veins and blood is squeezed
back toward the heart.

If something goes wrong (the legs are not helping) the body

If something goes wrong (the legs are not helping) the

has a solution: fainting. This is why soldiers standing still in
formation (not using their legs) faint. Fainting flops the body
down on the ground making it easier for the heart to pump
without help from the legs.

The problem is: when you faint in a fall-arrest harness you

don’t flop down, you keep hanging there upright.

Now the problem gets worse. You’re unconscious

body has a solution: fainting. This is why soldiers

so you are not struggling, not squirming around, not
using your legs at all.

Very quickly blood starts filling up in your legs. No matter

how hard it tries, your heart can’t get blood to your brain,
you faint, and then die.

Death can happen in less than 30 minutes. Some doctors say

you can die hanging in a harness in 5 minutes.

standing still in formation (not using their legs) faint.

Here are four important things to remember:
1. Get down quickly.
2. Keep using your legs.
3. If rescuing–tell victim to keep using his/her legs.
4. During and after rescue, don’t lay the victim flat.

The longer a person was hanging–the more dangerous to lie

them flat. Instead, lean his/her back up against something,

When you faint, your body falls to the ground making it

for at least 30 minutes.

Even after rescue, the victim can still die. The person’s legs
are now full of blood. The blood has no oxygen in it. If that
no-oxygen blood immediately gushes back into the heart, the
heart can go into shock and stop beating. This is why the victim

easier for your heart to pump without help from the legs.

The problem is: when you faint in a fall-arrest harness

you don’t fall down, you keep hanging there upright. This “simple text” is the
layer after this picture.
Now the problem gets worse. You’re unconscious so you
are not struggling, not squirming around, not using your
Hanging Like This May Kill Him

Hanging like this, it takes about...

5 minutes
to go

legs at all.
Surviving the fall is not the only danger
Hanging in the harness is dangerous too

Get him down quickly

He’s not OK

Quickly blood begins pooling in your legs. No matter

Legs are the problem
Blood pools into his legs
If his legs don’t move,
blood stays there
Heart can’t pump blood
to his head
If he’s conscious tell him to keep

how hard your heart tries, it can’t get your blood back up
moving his legs

When he’s down... When he’s down...

Don’t Do This Sit or Kneel

to your brain; you faint, and after a while, die.
His legs are full of too much “blue” blood.
If all that blood, with no oxgyen in it, suddenly
pours into this heart, it could kill him.
Don’t lay him down. Keep him propped up.
In a sitting position.
Source: Adapted from Seddon

Death can happen in less than 30 minutes. Some 29

Original email, doctors say you can die hanging in a harness in 5

“Orthostatic Intolerance” is:
minutes.
Grade level: 15
7% of population can understand
Here are four important things to remember:
1. Get down quickly.
2. Keep using your legs.
ma
pension Trau
lerance/Sus
ostatic Into
letin: Orth
Safety Bul toms:
following sympea, dizziness,
ed by the
is characteriz , fatigue, naus ension from fall

3. If rescuing–tell victim to keep using his/her legs.

intolerance ulousness susp
Orthostatic tations, trem fainting. Prolonged can result
in
edness, palpi , and which, in turn,
light-head weakness intolerance
, sweating, orthostatic
headache caus e .
ms can death
arrest syste or potentially,
ical injury, cause is

4. During and after rescue, don’t lay the victim flat.

serious phys show one death
intolerance followed by
caus es of orthostatic to unconsciousness, nged
into the ng prolo
Research t device leadi ciated with to prevent
n in a fall arresTo reduce the risk asso ld implement plans ,
suspensio shou symptoms
30 minutes. employers signs and
in less than fall arrest systems, static intolerance
n in ortho
as possible.
suspensio ns, identifying as quickly
suspensio treatment
prolonged rescue and seen to lose
and performing bile and were g
susp ended immo ension is life threateninnot
were susp alties are
hy volunteers tes. Such ntial that casu ground. The
In tests, healt in as little as five minu

The longer a person is hanging–the more dangerous to

e it is esse ng on the
conscious
ness ed. After rescu when landi ion with legs
rescue is needduring the rescue or sitting posit
and urgent r them in a tes, even
if
any time eithethe casualty is to keep minimum of 20 minu
laid flat at for a dures can
harm
gement of the chest rescue proce
correct mana out or pulled up to these post-

lay him/her flat. Instead, lean his/her back up against

r straig ht re to follow
eithe nscious. Failu to death.
they are unco and sometimes lead ved with work at a
the casualties others invol to be taken
systems, and s that might need
protection
personal fall ing precaution ion.
All users of e of the follow d posit ng, the grea
ter the

something, for at least 20 minutes.

ld be awar a suspende
height, shou a casualty being in d without movi
t of is suspende
in the even r a casualty
1. The longe

Even after rescue, the victim can still die. The person’s
legs are now full of blood. The blood has no oxygen in it.
If all that no-oxygen blood immediately gushes back into
the heart, the heart can go into shock and stop beating.
This is why the victim must be kept upright during and
after the rescue.

available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz 12 Larkin Communication Consulting

 Use Several Pictures for Complex Processes

Drawing one picture to describe a complex process is too difficult. A process has several steps so it takes several
pictures to describe. This example shows simple hand-drawn pictures explaining condensation-induced waterhammer.
Waterhammers are potentially dangerous shock waves that can happen when steam is mixed with a liquid.

available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz 13 Larkin Communication Consulting

 Try Communicating as if You Were Human

Why does your safety communication always sound like a submission to the
Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics?

You people are in the grip of some strange pseudo-scientific,

pseudo-intellectual communication style. And it’s killing you. Literally.

ating um
Oper r
o f Safe wdown D Snap out of it.
w lo
Revie in the B
ls
Leve f the bility
are o ta
a r e all aw unpredic der Turn your back and walk away from these goofy
We a n d s u n
bilit y flo w
varia rocarbon h heat an this
d attempts to sound smart.
y d
of h ions of h ig
q u e nt to
it nse at
cond res. Co sential th m
pres
su
, it is es
o w n dru Communicate with your supervisors and frontline
tion wd at
varia in the blo margin th ive employees as if you were a human. A real person.
t
levels in a safe e of reac ted
ta
main a full ran unexpe
g c Not a pretend scientist or academic.
s ld
allow res shou ise.
su r
mea gencies a
contin

When the Crap hits the fan....

ga
st
of
lar
We don’t want to Hear.....
e
“Oh Sorry, the blowdown drum is full.”

9 meters - tank height

inlet pipe Does everyone understand?

This space can save our neck
when things go wrong.
We need these 5 m. empty.
Blowdown Drum

4 meters - high-level alarm

3 meters - pump cut in

2 meters - analyzing point
1 meter - pump cut off

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 “But I Can’t Draw”

“I can’t draw” is what everyone says. Get over it.

You can’t draw like a professional. Good. You don’t want professional drawings.
Professional illustrations and photographs increase attention (more people look at it)
but not comprehension.

Professional drawings and photographs deliver too much detail. This details
becomes noise distracting the reader from the main point.
source: Houts
To maximize comprehension make your drawings crude and simple.

Here is what it takes to improve your safety communication by more than 100%:

This much artistic talent. scanner

Few things in communication research are known with certainty, here is one of them:

Adding crude drawings to text brings huge increases in comprehension. source: Paivio

For example, Professor Richard Mayer, University of California, added these five
drawings to a 600-word college-textbook explanation of lightning. The result?
Students’ test scores jumped by 113%.

Downdrafts Positively charged

particles

Ice crystals
Freezing level

Water droplets Raindrops

Updrafts Negatively Stepped leader Return stroke

Updrafts charged particles Branches

Upward-moving
Warm moist air leader
Wind gusts

1. Warm moist air rises, 2. Raindrops and ice 3. Negatively charged 4. Two leaders meet, 5. Positively charged
water vapor condenses crystals drag air particles fall to bottom negatively charged particles from the
and forms cloud. downward. of cloud. particles rush from ground rush upward
cloud to ground. along the same path.

Don’t let some fear of drawing you picked up as a 10-year-old stop you from
dramatically improving your safety communication.

available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz 15 Larkin Communication Consulting

 Advanced Communication You Shouldn’t Try

You are not ready for advanced communication. Refineries need to master the basics first.
Mastering the basics means safety messages with three layers: picture, simple text, and
then technical documents. (See page 11). However, here is a taste of three advanced
communication techniques.

1. Fear Appeals Fear appeals can change behavior and refineries are the perfect place to use them.

Fear appeals, however, require a balance: the amount of fear must equal the ease of the solution.

If you deliver a high fear-appeal message without an easy-to-do solution, people reduce the fear by
suppressing the message (”I don’t believe it“ ”never happen to me” “that’s exaggerated”).

This is why years of terrifying anti-smoking ads failed. Smokers (70% of whom had already tried
and failed to quit) did not see an easy solution–so they reduced their fear by suppressing the
message. For this same reason fear appeals are not used for losing weight.

On the other hand, fear appeals work well in car safety (seat belts), dental care (flossing), AIDS
(condoms) because you can reduce the fear by doing the relatively easy solution.

If what happened on your inside Refineries are perfect for fear appeals because there are plenty of reasons to be afraid and many
happened on your outside of the solutions are easy to do.
would you still smoke?
This ad did not work. Sources: Keller, Witte

2. Communication Communication campaigns can tap the collective consciousness of a group.

Campaigns
Refineries are perfect for communication campaign because people know each other well,
work in close proximity, and depend heavily on one another. These conditions breed a
collective consciousness exerting considerable influence on everyone’s behavior.

A good communication campaign inserts your safety message into the collective:

Choose one topic relevant across the refinery: new permit system, evacuation procedures.
Logo: prepare something clever capturing the major theme of the campaign.
Big-bang launch flooding the refinery with: pins, coffee mugs, hats, and posters.
Knowledge booklet for everyone: 10 to 15 pages explaining the new safety procedures.
After one week, employees take a 20-question test on the material in the booklet.
Substitute teachers, usually from a specialist temp. agency, arrive at your refinery.
These teachers randomly select employees for testing, then administer and score the tests.
These teachers aggregate anonymous individual scores into a refinery score.
The refinery must reach 80% correct answers or a re-test is scheduled for the next week.

A well-executed communication campaign embeds your safety message into the entire refinery.

3. Improved Channel Your safety communication does not show a good understanding of communication
channels. Especially what each channel does best:
Selection
Web: best for searching–locating small pieces of information within large data sets.
Paper: best for comprehending–understanding new, long, and complicated ideas.
Face to face: best for overcoming employee resistance to change.

Web pages are not best for comprehension because the mind is busy juggling two
tasks: navigation and understanding. This is supported by research showing the more
links on a Web page, the lower the comprehension. Paper is superior to Web for
Web comprehension because there is no navigation, all mental resources can be devoted to
best for search Face to Face understanding.
best for change
Finally, mediated information (print and electronic) is good for creating awareness but
not best for behavior change. Face-to-face communication with a supervisor is about
ten times more powerful than mediated information for changing employee behavior.

Paper
Sources: Hailey, Larkin
best for comprehension

available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz 16 Larkin Communication Consulting

 References

Aldridge, Michael D.: “Writing and Designing Readable Patient Education Materials,”
Nephrology Nursing Journal, vol. 31, no. 4, July/August 2004, p. 373-377.

Brownson, Kenneth: “Literacy: A Problem that Managers Must Handle,” Hospital Materiel
Management Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 1, August 1998, p. 37-47.

Chewning, Eugene G. Jr. and Adrian M. Harrell: “The Effect of Information Load on
Decision Makers’ Cue Utilization Levels and Decision Quality in a Financial Distress
Decision Task,” Accounting, Organizations and Society, vol. 15, no. 6, 1990, p. 527-542.

David, Prabu: "News Concreteness and Visual-Verbal Association: Do News Pictures Narrow
the Recall Gap Between Concrete and Abstract News?" Human Communication Research,
vol. 25, no. 2, December 1998, p. 180-201.

DuBay, William H.: “The Basics of Plain Language,” Impact Information: Plain Language
Services, Costa Mesa, CA, 2005, available online: http://www.impact-information.com.

Federal Public Service: Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue (UK): “Safety Alert:
Rupture of an (Atmospheric) Crude Oil Storage Tank,” Document No.: CRC/ONG/013-E,
Version: 1, November 2006 p. 1-12.

Hailey, David E. Jr. and Christine Hailey: “Hypermedia, Multimedia, and Reader Cognition:
An Empirical Study,” Technical Communication, Third Quarter, 1998, p. 330-342.

Houts, Peter S.; Cecilia C. Doak; Leonard G. Doak; Matthew J. Loscalzo: “The Role of
Pictures in Improving Health Communication: A Review of Research on Attention,
Comprehension, Recall, and Adherence,” Patient Education and Counseling, vol. 61, 2006,
p.173-190.

Iastrebova Ksenia: Managers’ Information Overload: The Impact of Coping Strategies on

Decision-Making Performance, Ph.D. Thesis from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, March 2,
2006.

Keller, Punam A. and Lauren G. Block: "Increasing the Persuasiveness of Fear Appeals: The
Effect of Arousal and Elaboration," Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 22, no. 4, March
1996, p. 448-459.

Kirsner, Wayne: “Condensation-Induced Waterhammer,” HPAC

Heating/Piping/AirConditioning, January, 1999, p. 112-122. See also: www.Kirsner.org.

Larkin, TJ and Sandar Larkin: “Communicating Big Change: Using Small Communication,”
Larkin Communication Consulting, 2006, available as a free download from:
www.Larkin.Biz.

Mayer, Richard E., William Bove, Alexandra Bryman, Rebecca Mars, and Lene Tapangco:
"When Less is More: Meaningful Learning From Visual and Verbal Summaries of Science
Textbook Lessons," Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 88, no. 1, 1996, p. 64-73.

Montondon, Lucille G. and Treba L. Marsh: “How Readable are Those Financial Reports,”
The Journal of Government Financial Management, vol. 54, no. 1, Spring 2005, p. 52-56.

O’Reilly, Charles A. III: “Individuals and Information Overload in Organizations: Is More

Necessarily Better?” Academy of Management Journal, vol. 23, no. 4, 1980, p. 684-696.

Paivio, Allan: "Images in Mind: The Evolution of a Theory—Review," Canadian Journal of

Experimental Psychology, vol. 47. no. 1, March 1993, p. 124-128.

Seddon, Paul: Harness Suspension: Review and Evaluation of Existing Information, Contract
Research Report, 451/2002, Prepared for the Health and Safety Executive, 2002.

Witte, Kim and Mike Allen: "A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: Implications for Effective
Public Health Campaigns," Health Education & Behavior, vol. 27, no. 5, October 2000, p.
591-615.

available as a free download: www.Larkin.biz 19 Larkin Communication Consulting