doubt is good, anger is great

"This Zero Harm stuff is a lot of crock!"  "This safety paperwork is a waste of time!" "We're not babies, why don't you just let us get on with digging dirt!"
I need to confess:  I have a strong penchant for being in a room with angry men. Any facilitator worth his or her salt will be able to readily relate to the feeling of genuine elation when someone in the room expresses a passionate surge of strong emotion, regardless of whether its 'good' or bad'. Yes, occasionally we get those magnificent 'straight from the heart' surprises  where someone shares something intimately personal and powerfully relevant. These are jewels to beholden, of course. They bring tears to my eyes (which doesn't take much by the way), and often others in the room. However, way more common in my world (Safety Leadership Coaching), is either a fiery negativity, a caustic attack or a genuine doubt in, well, to be honest sometimes the whole modern safety world.
And, I love it! Seriously! Why? Well, first and foremost, no matter what the emotion, there's energy there to work with.  Try working in those disturbingly toxic safety cultures where the majority of workers eyes are glazed over .You feel the heaviness, the passive and active disengagement as soon as you walk in the room. And to get anyone to talk about anything is like getting blood out of a stone. Now that's hard! On the other hand however, when people express their doubts, their frustrations, their anger, it means they're still personally invested in the workplace They have hope, they are thinking about safety and have a take on it. They're on the inside. They feel that change/improvement is possible, that just maybe they might get listened to.
 It also tells me that this particular culture is at the very least evolved to the extent where the airing of dissidence is accepted ('encouraged' is really good). And this is no small thing. I've worked at places where the 'line in the sand' demand for the politically correct company line is pursued with such Orwellian zeal that contractors have been deleted on the spot for spontaneously and innocently expressing otherwise. 
The next challenge is working with this 'energy', letting it be aired without it taking all the oxygen in the room. 
Don't try and be bullet proof, rather let the bullets go through you. And there's a world of difference between the two. It's not about heroically going into some glorified battle. I'm always surprised how that when crews are given the respect to be genuinely listened to and acknowledged, to vent their spleens, their whole body language softens and then we can move somewhere better together. Real learning is now possible. 
Many Safety Leaders, whether they be Supervisors or Senior Executives, if they are really honest with themselves, don't allow this spaciousness. They default to scripted, two dimensional message deliveries. Why? because it's too scary. We need to have done enough inner work to have the quiet strength and humble confidence to open up in front of a crowd and 'waltz with the grizzly bears'. But seriously, what's the alternative?  If we are truly committed to working determinedly on manifesting a sustainable safety culture where our sisters and brothers truly, deeply, believe, value, and therefore act safely, from the inside out, then we need to be willing to at first listen, to it all.
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