The Challenge
A manufacturing organization with 780 employees across three production facilities struggled with workplace safety compliance despite comprehensive protocols and incentive programs. The company experienced 2.4 recordable incidents per 100 full-time workers and identified a concerning pattern of unreported near-misses.
Safety culture assessments revealed that emotional barriers—particularly fear of blame and shame around mistakes—prevented employees from reporting potential hazards. Floor supervisors struggled to create environments where safety concerns could be raised without triggering defensive responses.
Our Approach
We developed a targeted emotion education program focused on the relationship between emotional states and safety behaviors:
Defensive Trigger Mapping: Teams identified specific situations where defensive states interfered with safety procedures or reporting.
Core Emotion Access Training: Supervisors learned to recognize when employees were operating from defensive states versus core emotions.
Incident Response Reformation: Post-incident review processes were restructured around the Change Triangle to reduce defensive reactions and enable honest analysis.
Implementation Timeline
The program was implemented systematically across all production facilities:
Weeks 1-6: Leadership and safety committee training in the Change Triangle methodology, with particular focus on how shame and anxiety manifest in safety contexts.
Weeks 7-14: Supervisor workshops established practical applications of emotional awareness in day-to-day safety management.
Weeks 15-52: Integration of emotional awareness practices into safety operations, including restructured toolbox talks and revised incident investigation procedures.
Throughout implementation, we addressed cultural barriers common in manufacturing environments, including masculine norms around emotional suppression.
Measurable Results
After 12 months, the organization documented:
- 47% reduction in recordable safety incidents
- 156% increase in near-miss reporting
- 34% improvement in safety culture assessment scores
- 28% reduction in workers’ compensation costs
- 31% increase in employee-initiated safety suggestions
Their Safety Director observed: “By applying the Change Triangle to our safety program, we discovered many compliance issues weren’t about knowledge or intention, but about emotional barriers to action. Teaching supervisors to recognize defensive states versus core emotions has transformed our safety conversations. We’re seeing problems identified earlier because people aren’t afraid to speak up.”