Safety Awakening – “Blood & Gore Has It’s Place”
April 17, 2015 No Comments“Blood & Gore Has It’s Place”
I strongly believe in using “blood and gore” to motivate employees! The two oldest safety meetings that I can remember both involved seeing the gory aftermath of accidents.
- 41 years ago I saw a safety movie that showed a hospital ward in India devoted to treating villagers who were bitten by a rabid tiger. The movie showed how rabies progresses and the horrific effects of this pathogen. I will never forget seeing the villagers in the later stages of the disease being tied to their beds and convulsing with foam coming out of their mouths. For the rest of my life I’ve remembered this movie and been extremely careful around animals that do not act as they should.
- 42 years ago I saw a safety movie that was filmed in a rural hospital’s emergency room one summer. It showed the horrible after maths of farm machinery accidents. I have never forgotten its’ horrific images of amputations and mangled limbs. This movie is the singular reason for my passionate and lifelong commitment to agricultural safety.
Over my career, I have occasionally shown gory movies and bloody photos to employees in safety meetings. I believe that doing so had a long-lasting effect on the employees.
While I would not recommend a constant diet of horrific training videos and photos, if shown only to emphasize your greatest hazards, it will have a deep and long lasting impact upon your employees.
Do your employees remember your safety meetings from 40 years ago? They will if you incorporate actual injury images that were taken after accidents.
Fear of a horrific injury is a strong and long-lived motivator that is underutilized by many of today’s safety professionals.
Awakenings, Safety Articles