A number of years ago, Midwestern Insurance Alliance raised the bar for safety directors. When a driver got hurt on the job MIA was no longer content with the brief injury description provided on a workers’ compensation claim form, but instead began soliciting much more detailed information, regardless of how cut-and-dry the incident seemed. What was the condition of the equipment? What were the environmental factors? What was the sequence of events leading up to the incident? These questions (and more) were intended to identify the factors that contributed to each incident. To solicit this information, MIA asked safety directors to stop relying on the mental picture of the incident that they formulate when drivers explain what happened; and start asking drivers to physically demonstrate what happened (to the extent that it could be done safely). Lastly, we asked safety directors to get suggestions from the injured driver regarding how to prevent a similar incident from occurring again.
If you are doing these things, GREAT!!! But if you and your drivers are new to this approach, there may be an unintended and undesired consequence. Drivers may misinterpret what you’re doing and become defensive.
Regardless of what causes a driver to become defensive, understand that defensiveness presents a roadblock to cooperation and effective injury prevention efforts… particularly for trucking companies that must rely upon the cooperation of an unsupervised workforce. For that reason, it should be comforting to know that there are specific steps that can (and should) be taken to prevent a driver from becoming defensive when discussing a work-related injury.
First and foremost, before discussing an injury with a driver, take the time to put him at ease. Remind the driver that you are interested only in preventing a recurrence of the accident and that you can do this only with his assistance. Convince the driver that what you are seeking is a joint effort to prevent other accidents that could be far more serious.
Throughout the process, exercise caution not to make judgmental remarks. This will only put the person on the defensive and defeat the whole purpose of your inquiry.
Let the driver tell you what happened, in his own words. Don’t interrupt to clarify (“are you saying that…”), interpret (“in other words…”) or evaluate (“well now, in my opinion…”). If you don’t understand something, wait until the driver is finished and then ask. Then if you have questions, ask open-ended questions (ones that can’t be answered “yes” or “no”). That will get you much more information.
If possible, try to gather the details you need without asking “why” type questions (“Why were you doing…”, etc.), as “why” questions are likely to put the person on the defensive. Then, repeat the story, as you understand it. This will accomplish two things. First, it will let the driver be sure you understood what he meant (not just what was said). Second, it gives the driver a chance to hear what he said. Strangely, many of us don’t “listen to ourselves” while we are talking.
Lastly, end on a positive note. The best way to wind-up is by discussing corrective action that can be taken to prevent the incident from occurring again. Although you may have formed your own ideas of how to prevent future similar incidents, you will be well-served to get the insight of the driver who was injured. Chances are, he has given it more thought than you have. However, the manner in which you ask for his insight will very likely have a bearing upon how thoughtful and beneficial his response will be, and whether or not the he remembers your interaction with him as positive or negative.
Choose your words carefully. Don’t ask, “What could you have done to prevent this?” Instead, consider a more diplomatic approach by asking something like, “How can we use what happened to you to help new drivers avoid a similar injury?” This re-affirms what you stated at the onset, that your inquiry is a joint effort to prevent other accidents from happening in the future.
