Just one workplace accident can cause serious harm to both your employee and your business. Injuries lead to medical bills, lawsuits, regulatory fines, and possibly temporary shutdowns. The financial impact is harsh, but the hidden costs (like a damaged reputation) can be just as bad.
While most companies recognize the importance of safety compliance, it’s often treated as an afterthought. But building a culture of safety is the best way to protect your people and your profits.
Here’s how to do it.
1. Prioritize safety certifications
Depending on your industry, you might need to consider getting your teams certified. A little bit of training can go a long way, but sometimes certification is required by law. Forklift operation is the perfect example of this. OSHA requires forklift operators to be trained and certified, and while that requires hands-on training, the certification can be completed online. Skipping this requirement is just asking for accidents, followed by lawsuits and fines.
Any dangerous piece of equipment should require certification to operate, even if it seems harmless. For example, golf carts, balers, and even trash compactors should require certification to operate.
2. Train employees to use common equipment safely
It’s not just the heavy machinery that puts people at risk for injury. For instance, even employees who climb ladders in the stock room need to be properly trained on ladder safety. And if workers on the floor use a box cutter to stock items, they also need proper training on how to safely use it. Just the simple instruction to cut away from your body can prevent serious injury.
3. Make safety a leadership priority
The easiest way to create a culture of safety is by having your leaders embody safety protocols and enforce company policies. Employees typically follow examples set by their managers, whether they embody safety or cut corners.
When leaders wear protective gear and treat safety as essential, employees follow suit and mirror those habits. This is vital for risk mitigation and creating a culture of safety.
4. Listen to employee feedback
Workers are the ones who can see safety risks more than anyone, and that’s why it’s important to listen to their feedback. They’ll spot the risks before anyone else and give you a heads up to implement solutions.
It’s equally important to provide employees with the ability to report safety concerns anonymously. Some people aren’t comfortable with management knowing they reported a problem. It’s tough to break through this mindset and make people feel safe, but allowing anonymous reporting will get you far more feedback.
5. Document training and compliance
You can’t prevent every incident, but documenting each worker’s completion of your training program can go a long way in protecting you against future lawsuits and fines arising from audits and inspections.
Training records demonstrate compliance on a high level. It shows that employees were prepared and managers took precautions. This type of documentation will be the only way to avoid accusations of negligence if you get sued.
When your business is subject to an audit or inspection, you’ll be able to prove you’ve trained your teams quickly and easily.
6. Reinforce safety requirements
Creating a culture of safety in your organization requires ongoing training and reminders that keep safety top of mind. This can be as simple as providing a simple safety reminder during your morning huddles or putting up posters with critical safety tips.
One of the best ways to reinforce safety requirements is to celebrate teams and individuals who follow protocols. This motivates others to do the same. People love being recognized for their achievements, and when safety recognition is done publicly, it provides even more motivation to continue with good habits.
7. Measure and improve performance
Creating a safety-first culture is an ongoing task. By measuring performance, you can create stronger safety programs by refining what isn’t working. Record metrics like injury rates, near-misses, and inspection results to get your benchmarks for improvement. Then regularly review safety performance results with employees so teams can see the progress and stay engaged.
Safety culture protects people and profits
Safety is not a checklist. It’s a value that must be woven into the company culture from the top down. Whether it’s a forklift certification, proper PPE, leadership buy-in, employee involvement, or continuous improvement, every effort contributes to a culture where safety is prioritized.
Most of all, a workplace with a strong culture of safety experiences fewer accidents and lawsuits. When businesses prioritize safety, they protect their employees, reputation, and profits.