Attitude and Safety – Safety Talk
How does your attitude affect the way you work and stay safe on the job? What’s your attitude like today? We all have days when we could be in a better mood, but how do you feel about your coworkers, boss, or safety every day? If you tend to be negative, what would happen if you tried to be more positive in your life and work?
Positive Attitude and Health
Having a positive attitude has many reasons to aim for. Besides making you feel better and being more fun to be around, researchers are looking into how it can help our health. The Mayo Clinic talks about benefits like:
- Living longer
- Feeling less sad
- Being less stressed
- Getting sick less often
- Feeling better in your mind and body
- Being less likely to have heart problems
- Coping better when things are tough or you’re stressed
Attitude and Safety on the Job
If you have a negative attitude, you might be less careful, not pay attention, do things the quick way, or even get distracted from your work. When it comes to safety, a bad attitude can make you do things that are not safe. This can lead to accidents at work that hurt people or damage things. Is your attitude about safety generally negative? If it is, why do you think that is?
How to Make Your Attitude Better
- Notice it. The first step is to realize if your attitude is leaning towards the negative side. Ask yourself how you’re feeling today and why. If it’s not good, then you need to work on it to be safer and better at your job.
- Find the problem. Once you see how you’re feeling, find out what’s making you feel bad. What’s bothering you? Is it something about work? Your family? Whatever it is, remember what’s making you feel bad.
- Fix the problem. Take time to deal with what’s making you feel bad. For example, if it’s a problem with a coworker or boss, talk to them. Most problems can be solved with a good talk. If you can’t fix it by talking to them, talk to someone higher up.
- Watch your attitude. It’s important to check in with yourself every day. A good way to do this is to notice what you’re thinking or talking about with others. If you’re mostly talking about bad stuff, it’s a sign that you need to make your attitude better. It’s easy for your attitude to get worse when things are hard in your life. There will always be problems, but don’t let them make you feel bad for too long.
Discussion Points:
- Do you think how you feel affects how safe you are at work?
- Remember a person you didn’t like working with. How did it change how you worked?
