Ensuring safety in the workplace is crucial, particularly in manufacturing, construction or healthcare. Unfortunately, getting injured at work is a common issue. And sometimes, the consequences are extreme. An accident at the workplace doesn’t only lead to loss of productivity – at worst, it can also be life-threatening.
But what if there was a way to prevent these incidents? Developing a safety culture is key to reducing injuries in the workplace. It’s an effective way to ensure everyone in the organization takes accountability for their own safety and the safety of others.
It doesn’t matter where your team currently stands – it’s possible to build a powerful safety culture and change the way things work in your organization.
If you want to bring it into your organization, but don’t know where to start, don’t worry – we’re here to help. But first, let’s take a look at what a safety culture is and why it matters.
Understanding the concept of safety culture
It’s not difficult to grasp the meaning of workplace culture – it’s all about how things are done within the organization. Thus, developing a safety culture means including employees in the safety and health program. It’s a way of giving workers the tools to differentiate between good and bad safety practices.
What are the characteristics of positive safety culture?
An organization with a positive culture doesn’t stand out easily – instead, it’s much easier to recognize a negative safety culture. That’s because a lack of safety culture leads to a higher rate of accidents.
While reinforcing a positive safety culture might seem challenging, the outcome is rewarding. Here are some benefits of influential safety culture:
- Decreased turnover;
- Higher levels of productivity;
- Lower rates of accidents and injuries;
- Increased employee engagement.
Your organization’s positive safety culture doesn’t only mean investing in safety procedures, equipment, and programs. It’s also a commitment to creating a better work environment. What’s more, it’s about empowering workers to take action and ownership over their team’s safety and their own.
How can you develop a safety culture in your organization?
Set clear expectations
Even the most impressive safety slogan means nothing unless you take action. You must ensure there are clear policies and plans for each organizational level. Ideally, you should have them written down to avoid any ambiguity.
When managers and employees are on the same page, achieving goals is much easier. Thus, make sure employees understand the safety plan in detail. That way, they can comply with the rules and play their part in developing a safe workplace culture.
Hold employees accountable for their actions
Organizations that epitomize a safety culture understand why safety should be a priority. Team members take ownership of protecting themselves and their co-workers. Holding employees accountable plays a significant role in this outcome.
When workers feel responsible for safety initiatives, they are more likely to take action and improve safety within the organization. It’s also crucial to hold employees accountable in case of safety violations. In many organizations, people look past it when someone bends the rules. However, this can have severe consequences in the long term; thus, it shouldn’t be overlooked.
Create a system for open communication
To create a safety culture, you need to invest in developing open communication lines in your company. Providing a communication channel allows you to update employees on new safety initiatives.
What’s more, through monthly safety talks, you can share new information and encourage employees to talk openly about safety-related matters. That way, you can receive significant feedback about the initiatives and also empower workers to take responsibility into their hands.
Use technology to provide safety
Technology has made everyone’s life easier in many ways. Nowadays, there is an app for everything. Using a digital tool can simplify your tasks and improve your business. The good thing is, there’s also a tool that can help you provide safety within your organization. EHS software is an effective way of managing safety data, implementing policies, keeping a record of employees’ progress, etc.
Such a powerful tool can make it easier for employees to engage with safety. Plus, they can easily report an incident and thus, prevent it in the future. This is more practical for employees than looking for a paper incident book and filling it out. Choosing the best EHS software will make a striking difference within your organization. Technology is available to you anytime – you just have to make the most of it.
Report all the accidents within the organization
Accurate reporting is essential to verify the success of your safety program. Often, organizations under-report incidents without realizing this can increase danger. Safety hazards cannot be corrected unless they are reported. And if they are overlooked, they will likely happen again in the future.
When such an incident occurs, you should solve the issue as soon as possible. That’s how you ensure your employees’ safety and reduce the risk of future hazards. Keeping a record of the incidents will also help you determine how effective your safety program is. Thus, it will be easier to make improvements in the future.
Provide a quality training program
Providing adequate training is vital in building a safety culture. Sharing best practices will help employees retain safety initiatives, and thus, they will succeed in implementing them. Besides the traditional training program where workers learn to use the equipment and follow specific procedures, providing learning opportunities is essential. That way, you’ll make culture transformation possible, as workers learn how to adopt shared responsibility, proactively make safety-related recommendations, etc.
Plus, providing quality training is a way of showing employees their safety matters to you. And that will lead to improved performance, as employees feel valued and protected.
Allow employees to stop working in dangerous conditions
Empowering workers to get out of any dangerous situation is a practical way of preventing accidents. Thus, make sure you encourage workers to stop work if there are any hazardous conditions. By doing this, you reinforce a safety culture and make employees aware of correcting the issue.
What’s more, your employees will understand their well-being comes first. Let them know it’s their right to stop working in threatening situations and teach them how to recognize potential dangers. This will promote accountability among workers.
