Verbal and Physical Triggers

Think before you act.

That may be the single best piece of timeless wisdom we ever receive, especially when it comes to safety. And while it’s a simple concept, it’s not always our natural response, potentially presenting difficulties during job execution and task performance.

Keeping in mind that safety tools are designed to give us time to think, focus our attention properly and help us maintain positive control of our tasks, we must identify actions and conditions that indicate the need for them. These actions and conditions are verbal and physical triggers that can be used as reminders to pause and ensure we have verified assumptions and implemented task-specific safety plans for the work being performed.

“Hold my beer and watch this!” is one of my favorite verbal triggers. The statement indicates uncertainty and abnormal risk tolerance, presenting an opportunity – typically a very brief window of time – to stop ourselves and think before we act. Hopefully we never hear the hold-my-beer statement at work. These are some examples of what you are more likely to hear, especially if you are actively listening:

• “I think …”
• “It might …”
• “Let’s try it and see what happens.”
• “We’ve always done it this way.”
• “It’s common sense.”
• “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Try These Experiments
The next time you see someone getting ready to pick up a load using lifting equipment, ask them the load weight and the equipment’s capacity. My hope is that their answer consists of two specific numbers, yet my fear is that you will hear something like, “I’m not sure, but I know it will handle this load for the next five minutes.” That’s a verbal trigger indicating the worker should stop, verify the assumption and then lift the load safely. The alternative is to continue lifting based on the assumption, which could ultimately result in rigging and equipment failures, serious injuries and even death. To stay safe and be well, it is critical to identify verbal triggers and use them as prompts to pause and think before we act.

Here are a couple more brief experiments to try:

• Ask someone why they are using a certain work method to see if the answer is, “We’ve always done it this way.”
• The next time you finish speaking to someone, ask what they just heard you say to them. Does their response match what you intended to communicate?

The point here is to understand that humans sometimes make assumptions that require verification. Using verbal triggers to activate safety tools enables us to do just that.

Physical triggers include looks of confusion, shoulder shrugs, nonchalant body language, and misplaced focus and attention. They can also include limps, grimaces and other signs of pain that might indicate someone is unfit to perform their assigned task. As with verbal triggers, physical triggers must elicit a response and activate appropriate tools.

Conclusion
Sometimes I think we overcomplicate safety. Granted, protecting yourself in a high-hazard environment, like a permit-required confined space, might call for complex controls, but the simple practice of thinking before you act doesn’t have to be complex. I also think we rely too heavily on pre-job briefings as the entirety of our safety planning. While they are undoubtedly important, the entirety of your safety discussions and planning cannot be limited to a 10-minute briefing. Shifting from job generalizations to task-specific work planning is one key to staying safe. Verbal and physical triggers provide that opportunity.

As an industry, we pride ourselves on everyone having stop-work authority, as we should. Stop-work criteria is based on predetermined equipment and environmental conditions. For example, let’s say the wind starts blowing more than 30 mph while you are working aloft. That predetermined environmental condition would require you to cradle the bucket. I think most of us also understand that stop-work authority exists because people will naturally have questions and concerns during job execution. So, add verbal and physical triggers to stop-work training and encourage everyone to exercise their authority. In addition, practice identifying when other people have a question or concern – without them having to say anything.

We can assume or verify, hope or plan, use common sense or common knowledge, be surprised or informed, react or prevent. Most of that depends on whether we ignore or use verbal and physical triggers. You will find them everywhere if you are looking, and they will be extremely valuable if you use them to pause and think before you act. This is vital in enhancing your ability to stay safe and be well.

About the Author: David McPeak, CUSP, CIT, CHST, CSP, CSSM, is the director of professional development for Utility Business Media’s Incident Prevention Institute (https://ip-institute.com) and the author of “Frontline Leadership – The Hurdle” and “Frontline Incident Prevention – The Hurdle.” He has extensive experience and expertise in leadership, human performance, safety and operations. McPeak is passionate about personal and professional development and believes that intrapersonal and interpersonal skills are key to success. He also is an advanced certified practitioner in DISC, emotional intelligence, the Hartman Value Profile, learning styles and motivators.

About Frontline Fundamentals: Frontline Fundamentals topics are derived from the Incident Prevention Institute’s popular Frontline training program (https://frontlineutilityleader.com). Frontline covers critical knowledge, skills and abilities for utility leaders and aligns with the Certified Utility Safety Professional exam blueprint. 

Verbal and Physical Triggers
November 12, 2025, at 11 a.m. Eastern
Visit https://ip-institute.com/frontline-webinars/ for more information.