People Power: Transform your business in the era of safety and wellbeing

Well by far the best book of 2021!!Thank you Karen J. Hewitt for this Wonderfully constructive read and I must say listen also as bought the Audible version also.Loved the stories of Duncan, Colin, Ian, Sarah, Kirsty and many others but Tom’s made me laugh as his daily routine came back with many of my past career moments and very relatable in one role I had on a site 🤣.The 8 step John Kotter change model brought back memories of this read (my iceberg is melting)and how I missed his points of inclusion to use years ago. You bring that across in this book to include into any vision & strategy for H&S.We all have Nono’s walking around in our lives and some people I could name would fit this perfectly that turned out to be great advocates and allies for the H&S movement.I’m certain I will be very ALTE in my application to be the H&S champion and will certainly use as a metaphor in my toolkit!Many many great themes in this book that I’m certain H&S professionals can relate to and give pause for thought.We really do need to BUILD-BUZZ-BAKE and change our conversations to enable ownership to thrive and not just let compliance be the rubber stamp on H&S to state we are safe!It’s got to be perfect balance between both compliance (transactional) AND ownership (transformational)Love this:“Making sure that OUR people, and those IMPACTED by OUR activities, go home safe and well every single day is not something we can do one day and not the next: it needs our CONSTANT focus and attention. The MOMENT we let our guard down and become complacent is the moment someone will get hurt or ill”Love the checklists and Action focus points and now reading it again as such a great insight into the world of what we do!Thank you Karen J. Hewitt for this fantastic read.#strategy #people #change #thankyou

I have read some great books over the last year or so and this book "People Power" by Karen J. Hewitt is another great book that will find a prominent place on my book shelf.Health & safety are so much more than just about getting people to comply with rules, it is all about a vision for the company where people can feel safe, about getting people to buy into that vision, and then to make that vision a reality "Build, Buzz, Bake"For this you require good leadership skills, coaching techniques and a tenacity to follow through on your passion for a safer working place for all employees.This book will help you achieve all those things and by the end, will be rewarded with an engagement from employees that will benefit not just health and safety but, the whole of your organisation.Highly recommended reading.

I read lots of books, I’d estimate between 100-150 a year. I’m a true Bibliophile.Every so often I’ll read one that’ll really make an impact on my thinking & stop me in my tracks.In the last couple of years three that instantly spring to mind are:The Relationship Factor in Safety Leadership by Rosa Antonia CarrilloNext Generation Safety Leadership by Clive F. LloydSafety Performance Reimagined by Brett ReadWell, now there’s another to add to that list & that’s this book:People Power by Karen J. HewittLike the works of Rosa, Brett & Clive, Karen has really captured the moment in time in the world of Health, Safety & Well-being.This is a must read for anyone working or even remotely interested in the subject.I’ll often give away books after reading them, but People Power will sit in my collection alongside Clive, Rosa, Brett, Sidney, Erik & Simon.It’s with no small amount of admiration that I’d go as far as to say ‘People Power’ is my favourite read of 2021 so far.

Its time for a new word in safety circles. That word is Levership.Karen starts her book with a great statement: "It's time for H&S leadership and H&S levership", and goes on to state, "The way to put health and safety at the heart of your company is to design, deliver and sustain, a leadership program, specifically for health and safety".Her book explains how to implement one such program in three easy stages; Build, Buzz, Bake.In Karen's own words, "Every single page in this book reflects an action, opportunity or challenge that the author has personally faced during the course of her work". This experience of "real world" situations is evident all throughout the book.So put this book within easy reach as you'll be referring to it often once you've finished reading it.

This book is a must for safety professIonals looking for guidance and a logical framework to engage with leaders, management and workers. The insights from its contributors are excellent, the checklists simply set out plainly what must be considered, the model of build, buzz, bake is genius!.. and most enjoyable is the structure of the book and it’s straightforward language. It’s entirely relatable. I was so inspired by Karen I bought a copy for my entire health and safety team as a gift!

Excellent book, very informative and easy to read.The book is broken up into sections (Build - Buzz - Bake) and includes simple checklists within the chapters, case studies, expert viewpoints and also short action focuses at the end of each chapter.It provides a lot of advice and guidance on how to implement effective health and safety communication systems throughout an organisation led from the top.I highly recommend this book for anybody with health and safety responsibilities within their organisation.

"It is time for you to breathe new life into the old health and safety and get your people so fired up that they not only take ownership of health and safety, but every other challenge in your business as well"Wise words. Not mine of course, but those of Karen J. Hewitt in her great new book People Power.Have a read. Have a think. And then maybe have a go.Get to it.