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SAFETY DATA MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE #2: COMMUNICATING DATA


A good safety record requires clear communication to those who must implement change -- communication to drivers to adjust driving behavior, to the maintenance department to fix recurring mechanical issues, to the company executive to adjust messaging, to stakeholders to demonstrate awareness and commitment.


The question is: to tell the company safety story well, is it more effective to use numbers and text or to use images?


Human physiology answers that question:


• 90% of information sent to the brain is visual. • 70% of sensory receptors are in the eyes. • 50% of the brain is active in visual processing. • Overall, our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than it does text.


90% OF INFO


TRANSMITTED TO THE BRAIN IS VISUAL


50%


OF YOUR BRAIN IS ACTIVE IN VISUAL


PROCESSING


OF YOUR SENSORY RECEPTORS ARE IN YOUR EYES


70%


OF PEOPLE RESPOND BETTER TO VISUALS


40%


Flying in the face of human physiology is how safety data is commonly presented to carriers by the government: numbers and text. Sure, CSA has whittled the initial numbers down to seven – the seven BASICs. “BASICs,” though, is an acronym, requiring a textual conversion, with lots more explanatory text behind that, all plummeting down into an algorithm.


The CSA BASICs approach is valuable to safety professionals, who have learned the jargon. But it is not effective as a communications tool for those who do not live full-time in that world -- but who must tackle the issues summarized by government acronyms and numbers.


Human physiology says communication is most effective by showing rather than telling. Images work better than numbers and text.


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