--- title: "HSSEQ Bulletin: Engaging Conversations – When do they become a distraction?" date: 2020-10-07T20:55:00+01:00 author: Joanne Hennigan canonical_url: "https://kentplc.com/news-insights/hsseq-bulletin-engaging-conversations-when-do-they-become-a-distraction" section: Blog --- 07 Oct 2020 Insights & Opinions # HSSEQ Bulletin: Engaging Conversations – When do they become a distraction? ![HSSEQ Bulletin Engaging Conversations When do they become a distraction]() Here at Kent, we are strong advocates for engaging conversations that switch people on! But when does it switch from being useful to just a pain in the proverbial? There is a tipping point where they just become a distraction from the work we are here to do. On worksites, there are the pre-starts, the site inspections, the PTW walkdown and then just as you are about to get started, the safety guy wants a chat to make sure we have considered all risks and hazards. Aaaargh, you just want to get the job started right?! How do we strike the balance between engaging our people and getting the job done? Once engaging conversations become transactional, they lose their value. Like any good tool, overuse blunts its effectiveness. Spontaneous engagement is often the best. Being present in the field and building relationships. That way if you do see a situation that twitches your spider senses then your confidence in those relationships will give you an understanding when to intervene. The key is trust. To build trust you must build rapport and you can’t do that behind a desk or in budget meetings. Get to know your tribe, be it at the office or on project sites. Be curious about them as people and not just resources and don’t let conversations become transactional. Share this story [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fkentplc.com%2Fnews-insights%2Fhsseq-bulletin-engaging-conversations-when-do-they-become-a-distraction) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://kentplc.com/news-insights/hsseq-bulletin-engaging-conversations-when-do-they-become-a-distraction) [X](https://x.com/intent/tweet?url=https://kentplc.com/news-insights/hsseq-bulletin-engaging-conversations-when-do-they-become-a-distraction&text=HSSEQ%20Bulletin:%20Engaging%20Conversations%20%E2%80%93%20When%20do%20they%20become%20a%20distraction?) Related Blogs ## You might also like [![Clinton TL Thumbnail]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/the-hazop-experience-gap-we-dont-always-recognise)Insights & Opinions [The HAZOP Experience Gap We Don’t Always Recognise ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/the-hazop-experience-gap-we-dont-always-recognise)A HAZOP is only as strong as the perspectives brought into the room [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/the-hazop-experience-gap-we-dont-always-recognise) [![TL Blair Whibley Thumbnail]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/risk-rarely-looks-the-way-we-expect)Insights & Opinions [Risk rarely looks the way we expect ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/risk-rarely-looks-the-way-we-expect)Kent’s Senior Process Engineer, Blair Whibley, explores how offshore experience reshaped his understanding of risk and why engineering assumptions must be tested against operational reality [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/risk-rarely-looks-the-way-we-expect) [![TL Padma Kumar Thumbnail]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/why-information-governance-has-become-critical-to-data-centre-delivery)Insights & Opinions [Why information governance has become critical to data centre delivery ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/why-information-governance-has-become-critical-to-data-centre-delivery)Kent Data Centres' Padma Kumar explains how information governance can no longer be viewed as just an administrative function [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/why-information-governance-has-become-critical-to-data-centre-delivery) [![TL Dave Blackburn Thumbnail]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/the-human-cost-of-late-life-operations)Insights & Opinions [The human cost of late life operations ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/the-human-cost-of-late-life-operations)Kent's SVP Global Late Life Assets & Decommissioning, Dave Blackburn, explores why the human side of late life operations is critical to workforce continuity, knowledge retention and safety [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/the-human-cost-of-late-life-operations) [![TL David Howie Offshore Wind Thumbnail]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/deepwater-offshore-wind-maximising-the-opportunity)Insights & Opinions [Deepwater Offshore Wind: Maximising the opportunity ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/deepwater-offshore-wind-maximising-the-opportunity)Kent's Offshore Wind Technical Director, David Howie, mentions what the new dedicated Other Deep Offshore Wind category in AR8 means for the industry [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/deepwater-offshore-wind-maximising-the-opportunity) [![TL David Boland Offshore Maintenance Thumbnail]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/reducing-complexity-in-offshore-maintenance)Insights & Opinions [Reducing complexity in offshore maintenance ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/reducing-complexity-in-offshore-maintenance)Kent's Operations Manager, David Boland, explores how integrated maintenance models improve reliability and reduce offshore complexity [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/reducing-complexity-in-offshore-maintenance) [![TL Dave Blackburn Strategies Thumbnail]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/where-late-life-strategies-break-down)Insights & Opinions [Where late life strategies break down ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/where-late-life-strategies-break-down)Kent's SVP Global Late Life Assets & Decommissioning, Dave Blackburn, explores why the transition to decommissioning should begin while assets are still operating [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/where-late-life-strategies-break-down) [![TL Ian Long Thumbnail 1]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/as-oil-and-gas-developments-become-more-complex-why-early-technology-selection-matters)Insights & Opinions [As oil and gas developments become more complex, why early technology selection matters ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/as-oil-and-gas-developments-become-more-complex-why-early-technology-selection-matters)Kent's Study Manager – APAC, Ian Long, explores why early technology selection matters as oil and gas developments become more complex [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/as-oil-and-gas-developments-become-more-complex-why-early-technology-selection-matters) [![TL Ferruh E web thumb]()](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/why-the-data-centre-conversation-now-starts-with-substations)Insights & Opinions [Why the data centre conversation now starts with substations ](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/why-the-data-centre-conversation-now-starts-with-substations)Kent Data Centres new VP of Design & Engineering, Ferruh Ertekin, details the increasing importance of substation design for future infrastructure expansion [Read article](https://kentplc.com/news-insights/why-the-data-centre-conversation-now-starts-with-substations) [](#)[](#)