Performance Psychology for Safety and Health Professionals Lyn Whittle, Honestly I'm Fine Case Study

Lyn couldn’t make up her mind which online course to go for – so she did both, starting with Behavioural Science for Leadership in Safety. These were her takeaways.

"With Behavioural Science, I was keen to understand the best way of addressing behavioural issues. At the time, we were working on a big job involving a lot of agency staff and were having a few issues. I applied what I learned from the course to influence them to see the bigger picture. I used one of the learning techniques to develop a quiz and got all the agency staff to do it. I translated it into their language, so they could easily understand it. It worked brilliantly. It helped to open them up and break down barriers. They started to understand that when I turned up on site, I wasn’t there to watch them – I was there because I genuinely cared.

With Performance Psychology, I’m genuinely interested and fascinated by the subject. On a personal level, I got a lot out of it. I used it to challenge my own beliefs – it helps to focus you on a positive and healthy ‘I can do this’ mindset. This is powerful stuff, especially if you’re trying to break a cycle of negativity in the workplace. 

The biggest takeaway for me was changing the way I approach things as a leader. The difference within your team when you involve them in making decisions, gives you a far better outcome. Something so small creates a very noticeable difference. It opened up lines of communication, showed that I was approachable and that I was there to support them. They no longer saw me a health and safety professional who was there to pick at them. It was a big shift.

I loved the mix of videos, reading and quizzes. It was well set up. Darren’s intro videos at the start of each module are great. I still remember the stories he told about basketball and being lost in Europe. He instils confidence in you – you trust what he’s saying because he totally believes it – you also know that if you do what he’s suggesting, it’s going to change your life. It has mine.

If you want to understand more about changing your own attitude when it comes to health and safety – and positively influencing the attitudes of the people around you, then these courses are definitely for you".