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SafeTalk with SafeStart
SafeTalk with SafeStart
S14Ep9: Safety Begins at Home
Safety doesn't clock out when we leave work—it becomes even more personal when applied to those we love most. Tyler Keith, a 14-year veteran at SafeStart, takes us on a journey through the everyday moments where safety concepts transform from workplace principles to family wisdom.
Host: Danny Smith
Guest: Tyler Keith
Danny Smith Host
00:08
Hello and welcome once again to Safe Talk with Safestart. I'm your host, Danny Smith, and today we welcome our very own Tyler Keith to the podcast. Tyler has been with the company now for 14 years I think he was saying almost 15, coming up early next year. He started as an account manager, but over the past several years he has been very instrumental in helping grow our capabilities within our Implementation Services department. He's a driving force behind many of the governance and support functions of that team, particularly with some of the larger implementations that we're doing. So that's professional Tyler.
00:43
But today we're here to talk more about some of the things that have happened with him and his family recently. And Tyler has been married to Tracy for 15 years and they have three young boys, and I put young boys when I wrote my notes here and I'm thinking as we were chatting just before we hit record here well, not so young anymore, right? So, they're growing up fast, so obviously they keep him very, very busy. So first of all, Tyler, welcome to the podcast and if you would tell us a bit more about, well, some of the learning opportunities that you've had with the family, because I think it's really, really interesting when you think about SafeStarts, particularly in a 24-7 application.
Tyler Keith Guest
1:24
Yeah, thanks, Danny, and happy to be joining you today. You know it made me think back to when I started here, my oldest, who's now 14, he was just turning one at the time and so now I have that 14-year-old and also an 11 and an 8-year-old all boys, as you mentioned. So, they really, I think, have been raised in a way on SafeStart. And I think back to. You know, when I started it was really out of self-preservation but, you know, at the same time, really thankful that we had some stuff that was geared towards family, and I think by doing that it's allowed us to really look at how we as a family work. It gave us a lot of tools, a lot of things that we could talk about, and I feel really fortunate. You know, I was able to join the SafeStart family at the same time I would start my own and, you know, any first-time dad knows you can use all the tools in your tool belt. You can collect along the way, absolutely can use all the tools in your tool belt. You can collect along the way, absolutely. So, I really, you know, have really grown into that as much out of self-preservation as anything, for me and the kids.
02:33
So, you know you mentioned, just jumping in here talking about some of the examples, and one of the ones that came to mind when we were chatting, first talking about this, was my wife's birthday, which I think is a good example of just putting it to practical use. So, we had the whole family out for dinner for my wife's birthday. Like I mentioned, busy steak place, and if you've been to one of those, you know the lighting's low, the workers are all in black for some reason and they're moving around really fast and the plates they're carrying, you know, necessarily cheap. So, you know when that dreaded comment comes up yeah, we need to use the bathroom. Never fails, it either is going to happen as soon as you sit down or as soon as food arrives. So, this was, fortunately, after we ordered. So, it's not our first rodeo either.
03:20
So I hold a quick, you know tool gate meeting, no running watch for the blind corners and observe how quick the waiters are moving around, because, you know, looking at others is a big part of this right, and I think something kids can naturally do, and, I think one of our best tools is how it could be worse. You know, know it's fun with kids to sit, talk about food flying everywhere, steak on people's heads, soup and laps, et cetera, you know. But there's real dangers behind it as well and I think kids can really grasp onto those concepts because it doesn't really come naturally. So just taking a couple of those excerpts from SafeStart and including them in a situation where the risk is can be fairly high and kids can be kids and you know I thought you know that's a real quick example, I think, of us being able to use some of those tools in a really relevant moment in most families' lives.
Danny Smith Host
04:18
Absolutely as you were saying that. I remember yesterday after church; Angie and I went to our local Mexican restaurant and you're talking about all of the waitstaff in black. Same thing there and boy, they're just moving so fast, you know, trying to get the plates out to everybody and getting refills and it's yeah, and it's kind of tied in there and usually pretty popular, and so there's people everywhere and, yeah, I can relate, that's it's, and teaching the boys about that is just a great way to convey some of these concepts. I can imagine with the boys. I know with my girls when they were growing up it seemed like they were always trying to one-up each other. And I can imagine with guys it's probably even more so.
05:02
I remember the girls even as we were driving, like we're going on vacation and just silly things. It's like I'm driving along as we're getting close to the state line and all of a sudden, I've got hands and feet sticking up in between the seats towards the windshield. I'm going what are you doing? We want to be the first one in Georgia. It's like, oh, so you beat your sister by a foot, come on, literally a foot, you know, not just 12 inches, but anyway, I've imagined, your boys have probably done some similar things, right?
Tyler Keith Guest
05:31
Oh God, yeah, you know, having three boys it never ends really, I think everyone knows you know thing, any little thing, like you said, can turn into a contest quickly and that just becomes a breeding ground for human factors. When, you really start thinking about it and one of the things that I've grown to love about SafeStart’s just the ways that allows us to talk to our kids, and not always about safety, but just they themselves as little moving missiles throughout the world and understanding what that means and kind of the responsibility that they need to have on themselves. So, you know, one of the examples that I think of when it came to that was this this winter, we were at a hockey tournament and it was, it was day one, it wasn't even day one, it was our the day we got there. So, we got to a hotel, and it was day one, it wasn't even day one, it was the day we got there. So, we got to a hotel, and we do the classic we're going to drop everything in the room and we're going to head to the pool.
06:31
So, immediately it's like no running in the halls, you know, don't run to the elevator or the staircase, and you know you get all of those human factors in place. They're rushing. You know they're complacent, you know they want to get down to the pool, but it's also that competitiveness right and you got to balance that all. So, they're running off towards the pool and of course it's my oldest. He's one of the best instigators of competition with his younger brothers. It's like I'm gonna beat you guys the pool. So, they all take off before I get a word in edge wise, and they are like we're gonna, we're gonna take the stairs and you know I'm catch up with them at the bottom of the stairwell, because I take the elevator, I'm not rushing down there. You go and I get there and they're all laughing, and my youngest son tells the story that, they're rushing down the stairs. My oldest had his hands in his pocket, I might add, I think to hide the fact that he was trying to hustle. But my younger son, who also likes to mimic his older brother he thinks he's kind of the cooler older brother um, so they're rushing down the stairs trying to, you know, outpace each other and my oldest son. He slips and he falls. He does one of those you know like skips a couple of steps on the back of his heel doesn't fully fall but see he's a bit embarrassed. So, I'm thinking this is a classic, SafeStart story. How can I break this down for them in a way that they might actually listen? And I know right at the bottom of the stairs isn't the right time. So just casually point out luckily you caught the handrail, because it could have been a lot worse. And I know my son he's heard this a lot of times; he's heard that comment or you know that tone or you know that inclination that there's more to this story coming. So, I get the teen eye roll, so I drop her for now.
08:30
And when, once some of the energy's burned off in the pool and we're headed up on the elevator, this time my dad, I talk about the importance of holding the handrail and how much that comes into play. It's a great backup, especially when you're rushing, cause sometimes, sometimes you're going to rush and with kids almost everything is rushing. So, you kind of get the mentally thinking about the cert card in their head and I'm like, okay, what about the habit? So, what else? So, I say I want you guys to do something over the week when we're in the arena because we're going to have 10 games over three days, lots of opportunities. So, when we're in the arena because we're, you know, gonna have 10 games over three days, lots of opportunities. So, when we're at the arena, let's try and watch how many people we see holding the handrails and watch the ones that don't. And I bet we're gonna see a couple of times where there's some real close calls and the SafeStart side of me is like okay, get them looking at others, we can analyze some close calls, we can talk about the habits. And the dad side of me is like, okay, get them looking at others, we can analyze some close calls, we can talk about the habits. And the dad side of me is like I just hope this keeps them busy and they're not, you know, throwing out the on boards.
09:33
In the first two games, but it wasn't long, you know, when we were sitting there watching the games and I think it was probably by the third game where my middle son he points someone out and is laughing, and I think it was one of the easiest and funniest things to do to get the kids thinking about how it could be worse, because a lady was tripping with a handful of nachos on the step.
09:57
So, for a kid of course that's a hilarious image how it could have been worse. Nachos in people's heads. You know all of those good things but for me, you know thinking about them it's hopefully ingraining in them that they can kind of look at that situation and maybe realize the importance of that handrail and tie it back into something they experienced a little bit earlier. And for me it's making those connections is hopefully going to help ingrain that in their brain. And with kids it's like you have a lot of opportunities but are you making them aware of it because you know they don't inherently get that. So, making those connections as many times as possible and as early as possible has been really important to try and drive home with them.
Danny Smith Host
10:45
Yeah, it's funny, as you were talking about that, particularly as you're talking about having, you know, not choosing not to talk to him as he had come down the stairs just then. It reminded me in our previous versions with the EAUs, we had an exercise in one of the EAUs where we talked about timing, tone and words and I would always ask people when I was covering that unit, which one do you think is most important? And of course, all three of them are actually really, really important. This really kind of ties in some of the things we talk about in SafeStart Now and Unit 4, where we're talking about how we share the concepts. But as you think about that, you know, talking to them in that exact moment when he was a bit embarrassed, not the best timing, right, but yet turning it into a game, choosing those words and choosing the way you framed it a little bit later, with the game, with everybody, that that was perfect, you know, and that's a great way to think about that. You know, listening to you talk about the family, I can imagine your family's a lot like mine as well. Not only do they listen to what you're saying, but at times there may be those opportunities?
11:53
Where, shall we say, the student reminds the teacher about the concepts of safe driving. I know, if I'm driving, for example, and if I lose focus for a moment, adjusting the radio or changing the climate controls or something like that, looking at something on the side of the highway, my wife, Angie will, who's usually the one in the car with me, since, since it's just us now, she, she'll bring me back to the moment real quickly, with just a simple, you know, eyes on task, mind on task, and she does it jokingly, which always works. Right, because it's like yeah, I think I better leave the radio to you. Can you change it to another song or another station? Right, yeah, so, if you had opportunities like that as well, where the boys, or Tracy for, that matter, of kind of brought you back to the concepts.
Tyler Keith Guest
12:44
Oh, yes, yeah, I have, I have plenty of. I have had plenty of humbling stories, you know that, despite our best efforts as SafeStart kind of, I guess experts, if you will you know we're we've been, we've been ingrained with this so long, working at SafeStart we like we're foolproof or error-proof, but life always catches up one way or another and we try and do our best. You're still human, right? Yeah, it absolutely does. But it also gives a great opportunity to humble ourselves and show the kids that it's okay when it is us to be able to reflect and call that out and have that ownership and that accountability, because a lot of kids, you know they struggle with that. Right, it's easier to blame someone else or not admit that you've done something wrong. It's a level of, I guess, comfort. But when we can do it ourselves and show them, hey, it's okay to talk about these things because that's the way we're going to improve, that's the way we're going to learn and maybe do better next time. So classic example and I love to say this has only happened once, but I'm sure it's happened more times it's early morning, February, so February up in Canada. It's just frigid. So, February up in Canada it's just frigid. So as such, also getting kids ready for school it's a hassle. You know you got to pack them in 18 layers of winter gear. School days are dark and long, so it seems like everything is always rushed in the morning come winter time, with a young family of three and this particular morning it's recycling day, and now normally that's one of our son's jobs is to get it out and notice, you know what, the trucks coming down the road. We can, we can see the truck coming and we know we have maybe five minutes to get, get it out there, and I know, you know what, we don't have time to discuss I say in quotation marks with the kids who's going to do it? So, I'm going to be doing it myself, definitely not self-triggering on the hazardous conditions because, like I said, it's February, so we've only had a couple of months of winter. You get a bit complacent with it and, despite my wife's warning on the way out, because she leaves a bit before us she warned us, she said that you know what it's, it's a slippery one today and it's like okay, February it's always kind of slippery. So, you put that in the back of your mind, not maybe the front. So classic Russian.
15:21
Trying to get out to get the recycling, I end up falling at the bottom of the floor flat on my butt. Missed the truck. It's going by as I'm picking my pride up off the driveway kids are in the window. I can hear my oldest laughing.
15:38
I had, so I had to self-trigger on some frustration before I decided to sit and had a quote unquote debrief. So, I get in and you know, my sons are kind of laughing. But then they're like well, it's your fault, because you didn't get the stuff out. And I said you know what? Let's, let's not worry about who's to blame, let's refocus on the circumstances. Let's, let's not worry about who's to blame, let's refocus on the circumstances. We knew it was slippery. I didn't self-trigger on that, I didn't need to rush down, I knew I had time.
16:03
Um, so maybe a bit of frustration came into play and one of the things that I didn't realize until I was in the house was, I didn't have on anything but slippers.
16:15
Oh, and if I would have taken a minute and thought about that, that in and of itself could have helped prevent the hazard.
16:23
So, it was a good moment of also talking about proper equipment. You know, did I have the right PPE on, so to speak, for the hazard? And I think having those moments of really humble debriefs, if you will, really help the kids understand. Hey, it doesn't matter, almost, because the result is you got hurt and you need to look at the ways you know, from a SafeStart story perspective, what was in play, what state to error pattern was in play and what could I have done to have prevented it. And, and it's as simple as that, sticking to that instead of all the other ways you can go, just create such a nice sounding board for those kids and, and they get to know, like you said with Angie, you throw the eyes and mind on task. It's simple language that they start to remember and use, and I think giving them those opportunities to continue to use it is the way that they really start to digest it and internalize it, and that's what we want.
Danny Smith Host
17:31
A classic dad joke, I guess, here with you talking about falling on the ice in slippers. Well, they call them slippers for a reason, right? Anyway, I guess it's because we technically slip them. I get it. Anyway, it's interesting. One other thing you mentioned there was blame, and I think it's so interesting how quickly blame enters into situations.
17:53
I started doing a new conference presentation on blame and accountability, and one of the things we talk about in it is how easy it is for us to blame somebody else, to blame a system or to blame ourselves, and you know that's so easy for us to focus on blame versus focusing on the learning opportunity, right? And that's what we really need to do is take that step back and say, okay, what can I learn from this? And when we do that, then that helps us to keep from making the same mistake again and potentially having a different outcome. It reminds me you told me about a situation that happened in a parking lot a while back, and that one reminded me, too, of the discussion from one of our SafeStart videos I think we've got it in our driving unit now with Mark Chavarria, where his daughter talks about well, it wasn't your fault, right? But at the same time. The outcome doesn't really matter. Whose fault it is right. So, you mentioned you had something that happened in a parking lot. Is that right?
Tyler Keith Guest
18:55
Yeah, absolutely, and this is a story of a close call, but this almost happens regularly at the parking lot in question and so where it is it's at our community kind of field. So, the field has two football fields, a track and four soccer fields as well. So, it's a really busy place. A lot of times over the summer all those fields are going. So, there's hundreds of cars in this parking lot and I like to say it's not the best engineered the way that they've created space for maybe one and a half cars to drive through, but not necessarily too comfortably. So, it's already a bit of a hazardous place on a good day. But this particular time, you know we're pulling out, we're driving to the very end, because it's they try and make it a one-way direction so that you follow the flow out and around the curve and then out the back of the parking lot, so to speak, and we're driving and I can hear the car because I have the windows down mostly because it was my son and his friend coming off the football field, full equipment, and I didn't want that smell in my car. So down the windows go and as we're turning the corner I can hear this car shooting up, and you can tell when a car. You can hear it. It's going way too fast for the setting. So, I just tap the brakes and wait to see what's going to happen. And, sure enough, the aisle that I would have been going by, this guy kind of comes out, doesn't and takes the curve, that I would have and I think if I wouldn't have stopped, I would have gotten hit on the side, and the side I would have got hit on was mine. But it was also this side that my son's friend was on. And you know, my son and my friend, they noticed like it happened fairly quick, but it was very obvious, and they were like, oh, that guy, that guy, and it's like, well, it doesn't matter If the guy hit us and my son's friend or myself or whatever would have been hurt. It didn't matter that it was his fault. The onus was on me to take a look at the other guy, take a second and then see what was going to happen. So, I think it's an important lesson, especially for those two.
21:24
Well, in any one of that age, they're teens, they're going to be driving soon and you know, you move from being, you know, a hundred pound weapon to a thousand pound weapon, um, who's if fault is out the window when it comes to something serious happening. But what is in play is looking for others and looking at the patterns of others, and I think that's one of the best tools that we can use, because kids inherently do that. They do they look at others. They can, they can notice those things.
21:56
But realizing that, you have to play off of what you see. You have to see that pattern and be ready to do something about it. And you can only do that if you have a clear head, your eyes are on task, your mind on task and you're aware if you're even tired coming off the field and tired, not an excuse to not be paying attention. The danger is real out there, and you either look and watch for it or you don't. And you have to accept the outcomes. And you know I'd really rather give them those tools as often as I can before they're left to their own devices, because I mean, you know, just thinking about it gives me chills, honestly, thinking about you know my son and his friend's going to be getting the keys, and I know every parent has to go through that. But man, that's a big one for us coming up soon.
Danny Smith Host
22:42
Oh yeah, yeah, it's interesting. You talk about that incident in terms of looking at others for that risk patterns, and in your case, you initially even heard it first, right? So another one of the senses there that feed into that, and that's one of the things I love to talk about with that particular CERT. Yeah, it reminds us what we need to work on personally, but it also helps us in those other cases where we can sense those things that are happening with other people, just like in your case stay out of their line of fire, right, and I get it. That's kind of defensive driving 101, but that's exactly what that is. I get it.
23:15
That's kind of defensive driving 101, but that's exactly what that is. You know, we're seeing the potential mistakes of other people and avoiding getting in their path. So that's a great example of that. All right, Tyler, we've got time for one more quick example here and, uh, I know for parents and well, for folks like me, grandparents now, we always want to try to show the proper way to do things and, like we were talking about before, not fall into bad habits ourselves. So, you mind sharing one other example about that?
Tyler Keith Guest
23:46
Yeah, for sure, and I think this is one and I think one of the best things about SafeStart it never gives us a lack of things to be working on ourselves and you know, quite often we really challenge ourselves at work to think about the habits that we could be working on where maybe we know there's a gap and we could be doing better at it. And one of mine personally has been PPE. I was really raised in a house where PPE wasn't a thing, and I think a lot of people my age and older can respect that. You know we were watching dad do a lot of stuff without the right PPE and kind of learn that way and didn't really think of it. So, PPE has always been one that I've had to really put an effort into growing into.
24:33
And I do a lot of stuff around the house, little projects and that and this particular one was out cutting wood for a deck that we were putting together and I had started with eye protection but as the heat of the day went on and I know everyone can relate to that that has to wear eye protection. You know it starts to fog up, starts to get sweaty, it. Just, you're at the end of the day outside, you just want to get stuff done and you know, if you forgot the glasses across the, across the yard, you might not be in the best, uh, frame of mind to go get them. To make one quick cut, and famous last words right one quick cut, and really, as I was doing it. Of course, those are the times when you know a piece jumps up, it hits you in the cheek, it hits you in the eye, and I think, wow, my reflexes might have saved me.
25:30
My kids weren't present, but, PPE at home has been, like I said, a habit that I've been working on, because I don't want the kids to necessarily, when I'm out there doing a job like that, see me without it, the way that I was raised.
25:42
So, I've really been trying to work on hey, they're going to learn from what I do and what they see me doing, and I don't want to pass on those bad habits, I want to pass on the good ones.
25:56
So, even though they weren't home, I talked about it with them that night at dinner and I talked about the close call I had and, because of you know that lack of PPE in the history, I do have quite a few scars, uh that that I've picked up along the way because of it. So, I showed them those and I said you know what one of the ones I easily could have carried is a messed-up eye after today and thought about. You know that a scar on your finger is one thing, but you know something serious happening is another and it puts the PPE into perspective a little bit and it just makes a point of you know, dad's not perfect, still trying to work on things, but it's important that we're still trying to work on them, right, we're still identifying ways that we can get better, and the importance of it.
Danny Smith Host
26:39
That's a great, great way to wrap this up. I really appreciate this, Tyler. You've given us some super, super examples here of things to share with the family, examples of where you've had the opportunity to share it, how you've shared it frankly, I think that's really great to see that, and I think it's just a great reminder of what we need to be doing with our families and continuing those conversations during those teachable moments, right.
Tyler Keith Guest
27:06
Yeah, absolutely. And well, thanks Danny for having me and it's been really fun, you know, thinking about this kind of planning for today and thinking of all those stories and I think, if any parent knows, you do have a million of them right Between the kids yourself never the spouse, but definitely yourself and the kids you have millions of stories that you can think about and I really do appreciate. I think one of the best things about SafeStart is just how easy it makes these concepts to talk about, but also for the kids to understand. It doesn't need to be as formal as walking through the SafeStart story and the CERT cards. But I think as I talk through those stories and as anyone that's done SafeStart for a little bit knows that story card, that CERT card, those just pop into your head instinctively, sure, and you know you're talking through those with your kids either way. But it's really about the small things, right, and I think throughout the story it's the habits, it's the looking at others, it's the self-triggering. They make it relatable for the kids and that's just what I've really appreciated.
28:08
It doesn't come easy at first. Like anything, it takes a lot of practice, and you don't always get it right, but you know kids need to hear things a million times before they listen anyway. So, you have lots of opportunity. You know, and I started all this by saying my boys were raised on SafeStart and I really think, you know, I'm also fortunate to be raised as a father on SafeStart in a lot of ways and, and just to kind of wrap things up, you know I'll throw this in there a little dad pun. It certainly hasn't hurt.
Danny Smith Host
28:39
But I'm bummed. Yeah, I love it Again. Tyler, thanks so much for this. As a reminder, folks, if you've been through the SafeStart Now training, as I mentioned a few minutes ago in the Unit 4 workbook, it's on page 22. There's a lot of tips there on how to share things with your loved ones and I think that's a great, great thing to do.
29:02
And, as Larry Wilson often reminds us, remember safety isn't everybody's favorite subject, so keep it fun, find ways to share that and keep it low key. Talk about your own experiences. That's a key, key thing here and, Tyler, I think you gave us some great examples of that, of how you share what you're working on. Just try to keep them focused on things they can be working on, so they're telling them what to do, just kind of points the way, and that's exactly what we need to do, folks. Thanks so much for listening today. I hope this has really given you some ideas about how you can share the SafeStart concepts with your family and with your friends and loved ones. For SafeTalk with SafeStart. I'm Danny Smith. Have a great day.