Workplace accidents vary in different ways in terms of severity and the way in which they occur. These include collisions, falls, muscle strains, crashes, cuts, and lacerations, among others. In the case of vehicular accidents, the employer has the option to hire a truck accident attorney to obtain a fair settlement.
Given the various consequences of workplace accidents, employers should stress the importance of having a safety program in the workplace. In this article, we’ll talk about the best practices to motivate employees to get on board.
Simplify the safety message
Every workplace requires a simple and clear message when promoting the importance of safety. You have to emphasize the urgency of the subject matter since accidents can happen at the most unexpected moments, even if they’re working from home.
For example, putting up safety posters all over the office walls may lose their true meaning. Too many messages can be overwhelming to take in, which can drive employees to lose their focus on understanding the main purpose of each poster. Instead, you can think of one central safety message. You can use as few words as possible to make sure every employee can easily remember the phrase, no matter the educational background or job position they have.
Make the message personal
It is a given that workplace safety is important for the productivity, performance, and financial status of a business. But what’s in it for employees? As the employer, you have to make workplace safety about them. A safe and healthy work leads to greater productivity, higher performance, increased job satisfaction, and more importantly, improved health and wellbeing.
Providing safety training is a great start, but training them once isn’t enough. Forgetfulness, simple neglect, and bad habits can hinder your good efforts. This is why it’s important to make your safety initiatives more personal and reinforce the benefits they will reap from them. Don’t just discuss the OSHA compliance or any safety certificate program; focus on how these things benefit your employees. You can do this by discussing the severity of strain injuries, equipment misuse, or any workplace hazards they are exposed to on a daily basis.
Provide managerial support
The biggest influence inside the workplace comes from the executives themselves, such as the supervisor and manager. If the manager makes sales and production the priority in the workplace, safety will be given less importance. But if the manager puts safety as the top priority, employees will do the same as well. So as long as the manager carries it, the employees will buy it.
Often, managers are high-performing employees who got promoted. Employers recognize their contributions and expect others to be like them. But managers undergo major changes after being promoted. They become coaches from being a top employee. In this case, they are in a better position to promote safety if you’re seeking support from everyone on the team.
Incentivize safety
Workplace safety involves a two-pronged strategy. You have to take a look at the workplace culture and find out whether your safety initiatives are keeping your workers from reporting incidents because of their fear of getting reprimanded.
In these situations, the best thing you can do is to include safety as part of the incentive program in which you incentivize teams or departments that have accident-free days or lower rates of reported incidents within a certain period. You can also incentivize the discovery and correction of work-related hazards.
Safety programs and positive reinforcement should always go hand in hand. You can do this by reminding employees that they’re actually making a big difference and showing gratitude to them often.
Use employee feedback
Every time your company collects employee feedback, you’re committed to using the feedback to apply necessary and reasonable changes. Once an employee submits an observation or suggestion, you should take action immediately and appreciate the employee’s participation through positive reinforcement.
If a group of employees is upset about a certain aspect of the safety program, the manager should be quick to respond by discussing how the program can be improved and altered. When employees feel your company actually listens to their concerns, they’re more likely to be less resistant and more motivated to comply with your safety program.
To ensure the success of your safety program, it’s important for employees to be committed and motivated. This means managers should make safety a part of the engagement strategy to encourage employees to place more importance on maintaining the safety of the work environment. In the end, an engaged workforce paves the way to a safer workplace.