How to increase safety practices at work
Safety isn’t something most people actively think about while at work. It doesn’t usually enter their mindset until something goes wrong. When that happens, the incident gets all the attention, then safety becomes top-of-mind for a while. But more often than not, people eventually go back to doing things the way they had in the past and safety takes a back seat until the next incident occurs.
However, that’s not the way it should be. Safety should play an important role in everything we do. If you cannot do a task safely, you cannot do it successfully.
So how do you infuse safety into your workplace? Safety awareness should be part of everyone’s job. Here are several methods you can use to instill an ongoing culture of safety:
Build Safety into Job Descriptions
By including safety in the job description, you cultivate the idea that everyone has a responsibility for their safety and the safety of the people around them.
You can also require employees to submit a “safe act” or “unsafe act” observation. At the safety meetings, review the observations, address areas of concern, and share good behaviors. Unsafe acts may include witnessing someone going upstairs without using handrails or taking out the trash without wearing gloves. Over time, you will see how everyone can contribute creating a safer work environment.
To further cement safety in employees’ minds, managers should review the employee’s safety performance at each performance appraisal and include ways to reward and highlight good practices.
Include Safety at Every Meeting
Safety communication needs to be ongoing and consistent. One way to do this is to integrate some level of safety conversation in every meeting.
Customize Safety Training
Make your training relevant to the participants you’re addressing. Use the training as an opportunity to present real situations they can experience as part of their job responsibilities. Work together in possible work scenarios and how to respond safely if they face a similar situation.
Encourage and Recognize Acts of Safety
Create a safety suggestion box for employees and make it anonymous so they are more likely to submit ideas. For instance, do you regularly include safety metrics or incident tracking in your regular employee communications? Has the team been recognized for safety achievements? Provide appropriate rewards and highlight individuals who have excelled in safety, publicize their achievements in meetings, and communications like emails and blogs.
Safety is critical, but it doesn’t necessarily happen naturally. In our organization, we take safety very seriously and we constantly remind our employees about the importance of returning to their homes safe and healthy at the end of their workday. If you think that your organization can benefit by building a better culture of safety, please contact UG2 to see how we can help.