Is a successful water safety program a difficult thing to achieve?
Well, the answer is yes. And the answer is no.
Part 2: Commitment from the Top
If you look at the organizations with the best safety records over time, you will see that they have one key thing in common, they declare their commitment to safety. The CEO declares it to be priority number one. Their demeanor changes when safety is discussed. They demonstrate their commitment in words and actions. They don’t blink. They don’t hesitate. Their charming persona changes to seriousness so as not to be misunderstood. They make themselves clear. They invest in safety. They don’t take risks with it to save a few coins.
If they have been lucky enough to learn this from the failings of others, they make the commitment so that they don’t have to suffer the same fate. If they have learned it from personal experience, they never want to feel the sting again. The bitter taste of knowing that their inaction or frugality caused a serious injury or death is difficult to forget.
Once the commitment is made, operational life becomes sweeter. It’s enjoyable to celebrate a safe day, or a great rescue, or a successful CPR event. The events you face in the pursuit of this feeling are sometimes stressful and unpleasant. In the end though, it’s your commitment, and the effort you put forth that allow you to celebrate and not to mourn or regret. It’s a powerful feeling versus a powerless one. It allows you to be proud, not ashamed. Not riddled with guilt.
An organization reflects its leaders. It decides what is important and what is not by looking at what its leaders demonstrate to be important to them. If the people at the top don’t believe safety is important, no one in the organization will. Without leadership commitment, a really successful water safety program is a difficult thing to achieve. With leadership commitment, it’s a really difficult thing not to achieve.
Commitment is an easy step in and of itself, and after coming to grips with the reality that water is inherently dangerous, it’s a hard step not to take.
If this content resonates with you the way it does with me, and you’d like to know how you can start working with us to take your program to the next level, please reach out to us at info@sstworldwide.com or on our office number, +971 4 456 0455 (local 04 456 0455).
Scott Deisley
