👉 The Mistake: Leaders Talk Safety… but Reward Speed

Leaders Talk Safety

Every leader talks safety.Every team hears it.But teams don’t follow what leaders say—they follow what leaders reward.

And in thousands of debriefs, audits, and incident investigations, the same pattern shows up:

Leaders unintentionally reinforce rushing and production pressure more than safe work.

A worker hears:“Great job getting that done fast!”far more often than:“Great job slowing down and doing it right.”

It only takes a few of these moments for a team to internalize a dangerous belief:

Speed is noticed.Safety is assumed.Production wins.

That’s when shortcuts creep in.Quietly.Subconsciously.Culturally.

And leaders don’t see it—until someone gets hurt.

⚠️ Why This Happens (Psychology 101)

Humans are wired to repeat whatever gets rewarded.

This is known as Positive Reinforcement Bias:We chase the behaviours that get us praise, status, or approval.

So when leaders unintentionally praise output over process, even once, the team hears:

“Faster = better.”

And once that belief settles in, you don’t need to tell anyone to cut corners…They’ll do it on their own.

🔥 The Turning Point: What High-Performing Safety Leaders Do Instead

Great safety leaders flip the script.

They make safe behaviours more visible than speed.They make good decision-making more valued than fast decision-making.And they consistently reward actions that build capacity—not shortcuts.

Here’s how the best do it:

1. They publicly praise workers for stopping work, not just finishing it

“Thanks for calling a time-out before proceeding. That decision prevented a potential incident.”

2. They highlight “thinking moments,” not heroics

Slow is smooth. Smooth is safe. Safe is fast.

3. They make safety effort visible

Not just outcomes—effort.

4. They give workers psychological permission to take their time

This is huge.When workers feel supported, they stop trying to impress with speed and start impressing with judgment.

🌡️ Here’s the Secret Signal Your Safety Culture Is Slipping

If you hear workers say:

“We just need to get it done.”“We don’t have time to stop.”“We’ll fix it later.”

You’re not hearing laziness.

You’re hearing culture drift.

A silent slide where safe work becomes optional, and quick work becomes normal.

This is the moment where leaders matter most.

⭐ The Fix: Replace Speed-Based Praise With Safety-Based Praise

Try this for 30 days:

Daily Micro-Praise (10 seconds each):

• “Thanks for taking a second look before proceeding.”

• “Good call slowing that down.”

• “I appreciate how you checked your surroundings first.”

• “Great catch on that hazard—nice work speaking up.”

These micro-moments do more to shape culture than any policy, poster, or safety meeting.

Leaders set the tone.Teams follow the tone.Culture mirrors the tone.

💬 A Question:

If your team had to choose between doing it fast or doing it right…Would they know, without hesitation, what you truly value?

That’s the question that separates “good” safety leaders from exceptional ones.