Resetting PPE Habits

If getting everyone to wear the correct PPE all of the time isn’t on your list of toughest safety challenges, consider yourself lucky. For most leaders in industry, this challenge is as relentless as it is predictable. The reasons and excuses are familiar, too: it’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, slows productivity, costs money, and takes time and thought.

Add to all of that the power of habit, something that could be working for—or against the cause.

Resetting those habits is one of the surest ways to move the needle in the right direction. Leading by Example is one powerful tool. Another is simply asking what we call Darn Good Questions to help followers think better about the choices they are presented. Questions like:

• Is it more comfortable to breathe hazardous dust, or to wear a respirator?
• Is a hand injury more inconvenient than wearing gloves?
• Is cutting corners really how we want work done here?
• Is an injury less expensive than the PPE designed to prevent it?

By and large, wearing the correct PPE—consistently and without exception—allows work to be done as efficiently as possible. More importantly, when the job is done, it turns out to be the most comfortable path, too.

There’s no better time than now to reset the bad habits and reinforce the good ones.
 

Balmert Consulting
January 2025