Generational challenges in safety
I’m interested to learn more about what challenge each generation faces in the health and safety field. Curious to see if there’s mostly overlap across generations, or if each age group faces a specific set of problems. So, what generation do you belong to (gen x, y, z, etc) and what’s the biggest challenge you face in the H&S field?
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Comments (20)
Boomer here(58)
I think that older employees have a difficult time accepting new safety technology sometimes because the old safety worked for them. Other times because they have already written safety off because one time it didn’t work. Younger employees have a difficult time because they can’t identify with any other employees. Both are critical to get on board. The experienced because they are looked up to and the younger because they are doing more of the physical work.
I am a millennial (late 30's) and I can honestly say earning my degree this late in age has been difficult. Keeping up with regulation changes is something I am lacking. Being a "newbie" per say keeps me from being trusted. So earning trust while being helpful to others is what I am working on. I'm only an intern so I am unsure of my future.
As a millennial, there have been a few times where I had to "prove my worth" before a manager respected a recommendation. Luckily, I have not experienced this within the safety organization and only with the customer.
On a different note, but still as a millennial, it is incredibly frustrating knowing how competitive everything is. You may meet all of the requirements for a job but the listing states 5-10 years as a requirement. It's incredibly exclusionary.
And don't get me started on how our generation is largely missing out on pensions like those before us receive(d).
Millennial here (30).
Being a woman in manufacturing is tough in itself. They talk over me, and listen better to male counterparts.
However, when you've been at the same site for a while (5+ years), they obviously get to know you, and trust that you know what you are talking about. I would say being young means that older people are less likely to listen. They probably trust older safety pros because more experience.
Millennial (25): I have faced struggle with getting team members on board with advances in technology. I previously worked to transition all of our scheduling and annual/monthly/weekly inspections and audits into a software program that would allow us to keep track of things a little better and even after multiple training sessions and reminders, I still could not get my coworkers on board with how to use the program correctly. Generational gaps and technology are a common problem but I guess the old saying "you can lead a horse to water" is true.
Millenial Here (30ish) - Dealing with unethical boomer bosses who only care about optics rather than actually keeping people safe
I'm a millennial and I'd say the biggest challenge relating to that is the misconception that we are all lazy and entitled; there are plenty of those but there is also a large group of extremely ambitious and hard working individuals within our age range.
The biggest general problem I run into is gaining the trust of craft after previous not-so-great safety pros have destroyed that trust.
Generation Y (millennial). Staying on top of regulatory updates and news has always been a struggle for me
Baby boomer here: as someone currently occupying a management position the biggest problem I face is trying to keep people onboard for more than 3 years.