How does attitude affect your work and safety on the job?
What is your attitude today?
If you are generally a negative person, what effects would a more positive attitude have on your life and on your work?
Positive Attitude and Health
There are many reasons to strive to have a positive attitude.
Possible benefits may include:
- Increased life span
- Lower rates of depression
- Lower levels of distress
- Greater resistance to the common cold
- Better psychological and physical well-being
- Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
- Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
Attitude and Safety on the Job
A negative attitude can lead to carelessness, complacency, taking shortcuts, or inattention from a work task. A negative attitude towards safety specifically will eventually result in unsafe behaviors. Unsafe behaviors lead to incidents occurring on the job resulting in injury or property damage.
Is your overall attitude to safety negative?
If so, why?
How to Improve Your Attitude
- Recognize it.
The first step to improve it is to recognize if it is leaning towards the negative side. Ask yourself how your attitude is today and why it is in that state. If it is negative then you need to try to improve it to be a safer, more efficient worker. - What is the source of your issue(s)?
What is bothering you?
Is it a coworker?
A family situation? - Address the issues.
Take the time to address what is having a negative effect on your attitude. For example, if it is an issue with a coworker or boss, have a conversation with them. Most issues can be resolved with a constructive conversation. If the issue cannot be resolved with a conversation with the other person, go to another level of management to resolve it. - Remain aware of your attitude.
It is important to do a daily self-check. A good way to do this is to monitor your thoughts or conversations you are having with others. If you are having more negative conversations than positive ones, then it is a good indicator that you need to improve your attitude. It is easy for your attitude to begin to tip towards the negative side as stressors pile back on in your life. There are always going to be issues in your life, but it is important to not let them have a negative effect on you for an extended amount of time. - Discussion Points
Do you think attitude has a large effect on safety?
Think of a person you did not enjoy working with. How did it affect your work?
