Establishing a safety-first workplace culture is essential for maintaining a safe work environment. True accidents can happen at any time, but promoting workplace safety can significantly reduce workplace incidents, especially those caused by carelessness.
Although cultivating a safe company culture is important, some employees won’t embrace changes right away. Many people don’t take safety policies seriously and bend the rules out of convenience.
Getting your team on board with prioritizing it will require a deliberate effort, and this article will help you do so.
Lead by example
Employees tend to adopt the habits of people they observe in the workplace, and it starts with leaders. Company managers and higher-ups should embody perfect practices at all times — even when it’s inconvenient. For example, leaders should always wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) in required areas. This creates a visual example for your team to follow.
Employees should never see company leaders intentionally disregarding rules because it gives the impression that such rules are optional. Once you have a few people breaking the rules on a team, the rest are soon to follow. On the other hand, when most of the team follows proper safety protocols, it encourages everyone to do the same.
Put your employees through professional training
It’s not enough to have employees watch a series of safety videos and answer questions about what they saw. This is a common training method, but it doesn’t work as well as live, comprehensive, hands-on training sessions.
For positions like managers, safety coordinators, HR and maintenance personnel, and production workers, it’s worth every penny to invest in professional training. It’s not only easy to find training, but your team can get trained from OSHA directly. For instance, OSHA offers 10-hour outreach training courses for groups and individuals, both in-person and online. Sending your team to one of these training sessions will help them understand workplace safety principles on a deeper level than just being told what to do. They’ll understand the reasoning behind certain rules and the dangerous consequences of ignoring those rules.
Continue training
No matter how you conduct your initial safety training, make sure to maintain ongoing training with hands-on workshops, online learning, and interactive simulations if appropriate. Offering continued training through various means will accommodate different learning styles and help people to absorb and retain the information better.
Invest in high-quality safety equipment
Make sure to maintain an ample supply of high-quality safety equipment. This should be obvious, but it needs to be said because sometimes workers don’t wear safety equipment when there isn’t enough to go around. Sometimes the equipment is broken and can’t be used at all. You should have more than enough to accommodate a reasonable number of workers at any given time, plus have extras. When workers know safety equipment is available and it’s in good condition, they’ll be more likely to protect themselves.
Communicate safety as a core value
When you discuss it regularly, like in meetings, company communications, and performance evaluations, you’ll reinforce the importance of safety in the company. By making safety a familiar topic, employees will be more likely to follow the company’s policy. This is especially true when safety is part of regular performance evaluations.
Encourage employee participation
Getting your team involved in company safety can have a positive impact. For instance, form a committee that includes team members from each of your departments so you can get different perspectives on safety concerns and solutions. Once assembled, task your safety committee with identifying potential hazards, promoting best practices, and coming up with safety policies that address known issues. Getting everyone involved will give them a sense of ownership and pride in their roles.
Ask for feedback and suggestions
Sometimes safety policies seem great on the surface, but there’s room for improvement. There’s also a chance that some hazards have yet to be addressed. By giving employees the opportunity to share their thoughts, they’ll be more likely to be proactive and share, which can lead to valuable insights.
Make it safe for employees to report issues
Encourage your team to report hazards, incidents, and near misses without fear of being punished. You’ll get more incident reports this way, which will allow you to fix problems before someone gets seriously hurt and avoid workers’ compensation claims.
Reward safe behavior
Positive reinforcement for safe behavior will encourage employees to stick to protocols. Reward teams who consistently demonstrate safe behaviors with acknowledgements, bonuses, certificates, or extra time off.
Commit to safety first
If your employees resist a safety-first company culture, get them on board with regular training, open communication, and positive reinforcement.
Once they see that their efforts are valued, they’ll be more likely to maintain safe practices long-term.
