Introduction

An inevitable finding of any review of a health and safety program is the need for "improved communications". The recurrent commentary provided by groups ranging from front line workers to executive management is that they often don't really understand what health and safety programs do and don't know how the program's efforts actually contribute to the organizational mission or the bottom line. When presented with such findings, the natural response on the part of the health and safety professional is to explore ways to improve the transmission of information orally or in writing. While efforts to enhance oral and written communication are always laudable, there is another means of communication that also warrants close examination. The way in which important health and safety data is displayed is an equally important avenue of communication, and it is ironic that in an era when health and safety professionals are implored to develop and collect key performance measures and metrics, little attention is provided to the way the data is actually displayed and communicated. This is a crucial shortcoming within our profession, and one that we believe serves as a major barrier to achieving full management support. This impression is based on five years of intensive field research, where we examined the existing literature on the science and art of effective data displays, and then reviewed data displays from literally hundreds of actual health and safety programs. From this effort, we've learned that when data is displayed in a manner that is compelling, desired decision making often ensues.

Barriers to Effective Communications

When trying to communicate the message inherent to the health and safety data we have accumulated, we should always first think about what the message is that trying to convey. One of the major barriers we have observed are overly complex data displays that obscure the underlying message. So we should always first ask ourselves: what is our message? Is injury frequency increasing? Is compliance improving? Are levels of job satisfaction changing? Once we determine what the message is, then we should keep that concept foremost in our minds as we create the graphic display that we will subsequently rely upon to convey this point.

Another common problem we encountered when reviewing real world data displays is the absence of any valid comparisons. This is an issue that Dr. Edward Tufte repeatedly addresses in his works, the notion of "compared to what?" (see bibliography). For example, if we wish to communicate that hazardous waste disposal costs are escalating, we should make sure to include data describing the basis for this escalation. For example, perhaps an increase in production or expansion of facility size is the underlying driver for such cost increases. If this is the case, then we should be sure to display this important data as well, as this will help convey the message to upper management and facilitate their understanding of the issue and the causality.

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