Create Executive Safety Videos That Hit Their Mark

By Josh Williams, Ph.D.

Company leaders frequently use videos to showcase their support for ongoing safety efforts. These efforts are often well received but sometimes miss their mark. If the leader lacks empathy or seems out of touch these videos can actually do more harm than good. Here are some tips for creating executive safety videos that hit their mark:

• Drive your message home. Stay on message and keep reinforcing it. No other medium grabs attention like video, but you can quickly lose your audience if you lose message focus. Above all, keep it simple.
• Keep it short. Long videos put people to sleep. Keep your messaging strong but concise. Anything over 5 minutes is a problem.
• Speak your audience’s language.  Speak from the heart, make it personal, and be genuine. Also, showing vulnerability and using humor are effective ways for people to internalize your message.

• Be authentic. The focus should be on being genuine, telling stories and avoiding ‘corporate speak’ language.
• Share your ‘personal why.’ Reflect on why safety is a value to you before preparing your comments. Sharing “why safety matters” to you will translate well to your workforce.
• Show appreciation. Thank employees for their past efforts. Many have been working very safely under difficult circumstances (including the pandemic). Thank them in advance for their future efforts to keep everyone safe.
• Call to action. Focus on “actively” taking steps to prevent serious injuries and fatalities.

Effectively sharing a personal, caring video showcasing the importance of safety culture transformation efforts is a powerful way to kickoff upcoming safety improvement efforts, especially safety training. It demonstrates active caring for everyone’s well-being and executive buy-in for the process. When done well, it also creates a more receptive environment for learning and encourages future employee participation.

Additional videos from the field are also powerful. People enjoy seeing their coworkers and field leaders on screen. Some of the best videos involve family members. People drive home the importance of safety when they are surrounded by loved ones.  

At Propulo, we help leaders craft executive videos that drive home actively caring and reinforce their commitment to safety.