Good morning all - hope we are all well!

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of dealing with persuasion of senior managers when it comes down to the productivity vs safety argument and what techniques you have found best to overcome this confliction?

Breifly the scenario I have is this

Open plan warehouse - pedestrain walk way is currently a painted line and the MHE in operation gets very close to these walkway areas - I have been working on a project to install physical barriers down the walkaway for over a year, with the support of all stakeholders.  We have asessced the areas where gates and breaks in the barrier will be needed to access the outbound grid area.

Now the financial sign off has been granted, im getting major pushback of a senior manager who is now refusing to allow the project to go ahead.  I know I can quote the law, guidance and cost of accidents until im blue in the face but its not the right tactic I need here - the individual is particulalry challenging in general.

His main concern is that it will reduce productivity levels - I dont see this myself and when ive asked him to talk me through it, he simply cant - he is just adament that it will effect productivity.  Without a fair example of how, my only response back is safety over productivity - which I know wont go down well.

Has anyone faced these kind of barriers before and is aware of a good tact to take to get your voice heard in a more constructive way?

I know this question may seem rather ambiguous, but any constructive guidance is greatly appreciated on managing the difficult!

Thanks

Louise

I get the feeling that this perceived drop in production will be the few seconds it takes to walk to one of the planned openings rather than crossing the floor diagonally.

Offer an alternative any time the walkway is to be used unprotected and a pedestrian is in the area all vehicle movements must stop - now that will impact productivity

Hi Louise,

I appreciate your situation. You could always go above this person, risky but sometimes Managers don't leave you with any option (if you can go higher).

I currently have the same problem with an MD, who belives that because we don't have walkways people and drivers will take more care, people are safer when its chaos....anyway some people will never change their mind, yet will be the first to point the finger when something goes wrong.

You could offer a trial using cones and bunting as a temp barrier; low cost, but you could use it prove your point and that the Manger can see that their issues are none exisitant. 

Good Luck (The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations - Section 17 in case you need it)

If it is just one manager out of a group of several who have signed off on the work could you appeal to the others to over rule him.  Not a comfortable position to be in but I have faced it with someone who just kept saying that his "gut feeling" was that this wasn't going to work.  I couldn't get anything useful out of him so I asked another senior manager who was in agreement if he could help me to get to the bottom of his disapproval of the project - turns out it was sheer bloody mindedness because it wasn't his idea.   I get the feeling that something similar might be the case here.

Quite agree with @Mrbightside about using cones and tape.  It's a double whammy- persuades the manager and ensures the permanent fixings / gaps are in the right place or provides a practical way to show any minor tweaks needed. And it's cheap.  If the manager won't accept the idea, then find a big hard wall and nod forehead on it repeatedly🙈