Making Safety

Visual: 10 Proven
Strategies
Safety Professional or Chameleon?
Your title may be Safety Director, but do you ever think it should be
Chameleon? As a safety professional you need to be a salesperson,
an accountant, a lawyer and a communicator on top of your “regular
job requirements. But wait, that’s not all. When it comes to driving
engagement around safety awareness, you can’t be effective
without making safety visual. So, I guess we can add “advertiser” to
your title.

Most safety professionals agree that their safety communication

needs to be a lot more visual, yet they feel daunted by the task.
Not to worry, this handy guide demystifies the subject and provides
practical steps that you can take, regardless of your resources.

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The Challenges
When it comes to safety, you know your stuff. You understand the
challenges facing your industry and you know those that are unique
to your company. But guess what? Unless you can get and keep
your employees’ attention, you cannot influence their behavior. You
may be familiar with these common trends when trying to get your
employees’ attention. Every one of these challenges can be solved
with visual communication.

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Distraction levels are at an all-time high.
Smart devices and social media have made us slaves to technology.
The fear of missing out has everyone checking in at an addictive
rate. That means you have to give them a reason to “look up” in
order to read, understand and retain your safety messages.

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Attention spans are disappearing.
According to the Associated Press, attention spans have shrunk by
50% over the last decade. Since the mobile revolution, Microsoft
has found that our ability to focus has dropped from 12 to 8
seconds. We now know that humans have a shorter attention span
than goldfish.

According to the Associated Press attention spans

have shrunk by 50% over the last decade.

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Everyone wants to be entertained.
Nobody wants to read. YouTube has changed our lives forever, and
not just in our downtime. Why read when you can watch a video?
Whether it’s entertainment or instructional, people want to watch.
That puts you in the “edutainment” business.

Whether it’s entertainment or instructional, people

want to watch.

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We have a voracious appetite for novelty.
As humans we naturally seek novelty. It’s hard-wired into our
brains. We don’t want to hear, see or watch the same thing in the
same way. It’s got to be fresh, new or cool for me to want to look.
Your list of safety issues may not change, but the way you have to
communicate them needs to be fresh in order to connect with your
audience.

This may sound daunting, but the good news is

that each of these challenges can be solved with
visual communication.

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Why Visual Communication Works

Building a culture of safety awareness means understanding how

to influence behavior. Who is the most skilled at doing this? Why is
it that we choose Nike or Tide or Ford when we have so many
choices? It’s the advertisers who are influencing our behavior as
consumers.

Building a culture of safety awareness means

understanding how to influence behavior.

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The Magic Number
In fact, they’ve made a science out of getting us to do stuff. It’s
called Repeated Visual Exposure. Simply put, it means using images
and words to get our attention and exposing us to those messages
enough times so that we remember them (and therefore choose
that product or service). The magic number is 4-5 times before we
tune it out and lose interest. It has been proven that we forget 75%
of what we hear within 24 hours. However, people have much
better retention of what they see (vs. what they read). By adding
visuals, retention soars to 85%.
What does this have to do with safety? Plenty. By thinking like a
marketer and approaching your safety messages as campaigns, you
can add visuals, target the right audience and freshen it up
regularly to make sure that you are grabbing your employees’
attention.

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“It has been proven that
we forget 75% of what
we hear within 24
hours.”
10 Proven Strategies

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10 Proven Strategies

1. One message, many outlets.

Extend the impact of your safety messages by posting them across
all channels. That includes digital signage, bulletin boards, your
intranet, mobile devices, paycheck stuffers, newsletters, safety
reminders, tent cards in the breakroom, etc. It’ll increase your
chances of reaching workers of all ages, types and levels.
Remember, getting your message to stick means repeated
exposure.

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10 Proven Strategies

2. One idea delivered many ways.

A common challenge among safety professionals is having to
reinforce the same information and precautions repeatedly. People
think they know the drill and that leads to complacency and inertia;
which in turn can mean accidents. Visuals are a very effective way
to make the old seem new again. Avoid the wallpaper effect by
surprising your employees with an unexpected image that will act
as the hook, thereby getting them to read the message.

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10 Proven Strategies

3. Act like you’re in the ad game.

Do you have in-house health & safety initiatives for things like
hazard spotting or health & wellness? Do your employees know
about them and how they can get involved? Remember, you need
to think like a marketer. Get creative in promoting your programs.
Create a simple brand for your program by giving it a name, a logo
or mascot and a color scheme. When your employees see that,
they’ll make the connection that it’s news about that campaign.
Launch it by explaining the objectives, the rules of the game and
how winners will be recognized. Use bulletin boards, electronic
message boards, posters and email to get the word out. Play up all
the winners that are doing the right stuff. Show their pictures,
shoot short video clips and post them on your electronic message
boards.

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10 Proven Strategies

4. Avoid boring diets.

Delivering a steady diet of safety messages is sure to tune out your
audience. While it may be the most important thing to you,
employees have a lot of other things on their minds, like family,
money, health and the stresses of everyday life. By addressing the
“whole person” with messages that are helpful or uplifting, they’ll
feel supported and know that you care about their well-being.
Picture this on your bulletin board or digital signage: side-by-side
messages about PPE and Stress reduction. If I’m feeling stressed,
that message will catch my eye, and while I’m reading it, I can’t help
but see the reminder on PPE.

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10 Proven Strategies

5. Make Metrics Mean Something.

As a manager, you’re drowning in data, but haven’t figured out an
effective way to share it with your employees. Use charts and
graphs to simply illustrate KPIs. If you have digital signage, use
automated counters for safety recordables or reminders of
upcoming audits. Electronic message boards are also a great tool for
data visualization of performance stats.

If you have digital signage, use automated

counters for safety recordables or reminders of
upcoming audits.

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10 Proven Strategies

6. Location, Location.
Advertisers understand the power of knowing their audience so
that they can deliver the right message to the right people at the
right time and in the right place. The same applies to you and your
workforce. Who do you need to reach? What do they need to know
and when? Where are they located? Consider this when deciding
where to install digital signage, bulletin boards or posters. Think
about where your employees congregate and identify high-traffic
areas. If you’re using digital signage, you’ll be able to display
multiple messages at one time and schedule content to play when
it makes the most sense.

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10 Proven Strategies

7. Invite Feedback
A fundamental success factor in any safety and health management
system is employee participation. Your communication needs to tell
them that you want, need and expect their feedback and
involvement. Wearing your marketing hat, you know to treat
feedback programs like campaigns. Focus on one objective,
communicate it visually, set a timeframe and post the results. For
physical suggestion boxes, promote with a poster. Use electronic
message boards to promote it and include a QR code for responses.
If people have smart phones, they can text or email their answers.

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10 Proven Strategies

8. Make it Fun
There’s no question, safety is serious business. But that doesn’t
mean you can’t take creative approaches to getting people’s
attention. Remember that you are in the “edutainment” business.
After all, it doesn’t matter how critical your message is if no one
reads it. And sometimes it’s the humor that draws them in. There
are plenty of stock images available online at no cost. Use these
images in PPT to deliver your message on your digital signage,
intranet or mobile platform. Make color copies and post on your
bulletin board.

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10 Proven Strategies

9. Make it “to-go”
Since OSHA doesn’t come home with us, more accidents happen off
the job. You can help minimize that trend by promoting safety at
home using cartoons, video or images to talk about safe sports,
smart grilling, home repairs, weekend warrior syndrome, not
mowing the lawn in flip-flops, etc. Time your messages to reach
employees at the end of the shift or the start of the weekend.

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10 Proven Strategies

10. Keep it Personal

Today everyone’s talking about storytelling as the most powerful
form of communication. While technology can help to connect us, it
can also make us feel isolated. Sometimes we long to hear a real
person’s story. When safety is personal, it sticks and remains top-
of-mind. Why not share your employees’ stories of “Why I stay
Safe” with short video clips played on your digital signage. Extend
the message to print by using posters or PPT print outs showing
the employee and a short recap of their motivation.

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Putting it into Motion
By now you may be thinking, these are all great ideas, but how can I do all this, plus my regular job? Here’s how:

Make it a priority
Commit to making your messages visual. Whenever you are delivering a message or launching a program, ask “How can we make this
visual?” and “Where are all the outlets for posting it?”
Create a team
Don’t go it alone. Everyone has a smartphone which is a perfect source for capturing visuals to support your program.
Develop a content calendar
Each month map out the subjects that need to be covered and assign responsibilities for creating messages and/or helping with
visuals.
Tap into free resources
You don’t need a huge budget. Access free online image sources.

So, there’s no need to be afraid of visual communication. By following these simple approaches, you’ll bring your safety program to life in
no time.
Good luck!
 ABOUT MARLIN
THEMARLINCOMPANY.COM

Since 1913, Marlin has led the way in visual communications for the workplace. As the only digital signage provider focused
solely on the workplace, Marlin combines the spirit of innovation with the latest technology to ensure your communication
strategy is as effective as possible. From Hilton to Herr’s and businesses in between, Marlin’s digital signage platform is
trusted by companies across the country.

For more information about workplace digital signage, visit themarlincompany.com.

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