Please pardon the attempt at humor in this post’s title, but the play on words to which we’re referring with the title references job burnout.
You want your employees to always be safe and to do the correct thing, right? As an employer, who doesn’t?
But providing training and instilling every best practice there is won’t protect workers from the most common cause of injury — mistakes due to safety burnout. Not only is the burnt-out employee susceptible to injury, but everyone they are working around is too!
Warning Signs of Burnout
Burnout is the result of someone’s attempt to cope with overwhelming and prolonged stress or discontentment, and it doesn’t happen overnight. There are warning signs to be on the lookout for.
- Complacency is a significant indicator of safety burnout and an injury or accident could be imminent. Do employees ever say, “We’ve always done it this way” or “That’s close enough?”
- Breaking the rules is another sign to watch out for. Are the comments, “The boss isn’t around to see” or “We were just kidding around” ever heard? If so, management must reinforce that rules need to be followed all the time (no matter who is/isn’t around); management must also take disciplinary actions in response to safety infractions.
- Employees’ moods and attitudes can be a big indicator of burnout, so attention should be paid to them both. Do certain team members seem disengaged, unmotivated or express a negative and critical attitude at work? Have other employees complained about certain co-workers or voiced concerns?
Identifying Burnout
Burnout can be identified by three signs, which can be measured by a version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). It includes questionnaires/surveys that address these general areas:
- Emotional Exhaustion – Measures feelings of being emotionally overextended by one’s work; physical exhaustion and cognitive fatigue are often present too
- Depersonalization – Occurs when others are perceived as or treated as ‘objects’ instead of valued individuals
- Personal accomplishment – Measures feelings of competence and successful achievement in one’s work
The MBI surveys can be purchased from various websites and easily completed by employees. The scores will help determine if someone is currently burned out or the likelihood of it happening soon. This information can be very helpful so changes can start happening before it’s too late.