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Everyone has heard the old saying, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" In the field of behavioral safety, a similar dilemma persists. Should the quest for behavioral safety begin with a cognitive approach to changing people's attitudes and values to produce a positive change in behavior? Or should you begin with a behaviorist approach to changing specific safety-related behaviors and hope these new habits will generalize, and in the long run, their attitudes and values also will change for the better? This chicken vs. egg debate among providers of behavior change processes has continued for years, but, like the old nature vs. nurture controversy about the relative importance of heredity and experience, the answer is both. Chicken/Egg/Chegg! At Topf Initiatives, we believe that effective safety, health & environmental incident prevention solutions rest in a Holistic Integrated Approach. Such an approach improves attitudes, changes unsafe or non-supportive behaviors, increases trust, opens communication, and fosters personal responsibility and participation at all levels of line and management employees. This approach also heightens each person’s ability to meet new challenges. All employees can and must be responsible for their own, as well as their co-workers safety, health and well-being to create lasting breakthroughs in performance. A safety, health and environmental culture can be created where individuals care about themselves and each other, and are willing to step outside of their comfort zone to make a difference in each others lives It's just a hunch, but I'd guess that if you ask your plant or facility manager if he or she has enough to do, the answer would be an unequivocal "Yes." But if that task list does not include "Chief Safety, Health & Environmental Advocate," your manager is not doing enough. Not for you, your employees or your company's bottom line. This Safety Net focuses on the critically important role played by your top on-site leader. This is the individual who should set the tone for safety, health and environmental performance and whose actions can immeasurably influence your company's outcomes. When It Comes to Safety, How Fruitful are the Efforts of Your Top Banana? . . . ON BEHAVIOR . . . ON SAFETY MANAGEMENT from the desk of… Michael Topf WEBCAST SERIES Starting in May, Topf Initiatives will be offering the opportunity to increase your personal and corporate safety awareness by joining us as well as your peers for a safety webcast series. Each of six bi-weekly webcast sessions will run 2 hours and include a 30 minute Q&A session, and will be facilitated by Michael Topf as well as other noted safety, diversity, risk management and wellness speakers. This will be a great and informative way to learn from industry leaders and interact with your peers in the comfort of your office. More details to come soon!! . . . ON WELLNESS introduced the term in the 1950`s. In his book, High Level Wellness, Dr. Dunn defined the state of Wellness as “a method of functioning, which is oriented toward maximizing ones ability to function in their environment”; he summed this up by simply stating that it is the combination of things that give us a “zest for life”. Over the past several years, with skyrocketing health care costs, and an aging population, the concept of wellness or holism is spreading throughout organizations nationwide. Dr. Dunn’s concept of Wellness is grounded in the belief that all individuals take responsibility for their own health and well–being by properly maintaining their personal fitness, body weight, stress level, and so on (Dunn). Although there are many dimensions of Wellness, the one that will be discussed in this article is Weight Management (body composition). In parts two and three, we will address physical fitness and stress management. Fitness and Wellness Principles: Part 1- Weight Loss The term “Wellness” is one of the most frequently used buzzwords in health and fitness these days. Wellness describes an overall health of the mind and body that result in an optimum sense of well-being (Dunn). Dr. Halbert Dunn first TOPF Initiatives 175 Strafford Avenue, Suite One Wayne, PA 19087-3396 610/783/1776 The next level of safety performance IT’S YOUR MONTHLY POLL |