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When you think about your company, there is one big thing that’s probably at the front of your mind at all times—the safety of your employees. This is especially true if you work in a dangerous industry.
Yes, that’s right. You definitely want to make sure that each and every one of your employees is safe and sound when working. If they’re not, it could lead to some nasty legal battles if they should get injured. And that could cost your company everything.
RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO PROMOTE A SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT AT YOUR COMPANY
However, there is good news. We offer here some solid ways you can promote a culture of safety and wellness throughout your company.
1. Understand the Difference Between Managing and Leading
There’s a huge difference between managing an organization and leading one. To give an example, managing is the process by which you tell employees they have to be safe, show them how to be safe, and lay out for them what steps to take when they see something unsafe. And sure, that’s successful to a point. At least your employees have all of the information.
However, when you lead a change toward a safer culture in your organization, you need to lead by example. Everyone in senior management will be responsible for showing employees how important safety is. When the senior management team takes this safety training themselves and works according to proper procedures, employees are much more likely to follow those procedures and be safe on the job. That’s the big difference between leading an organization and merely managing it.
2. Perform a Baseline Assessment First
However, before you start a change in the culture of your company, you should do a baseline assessment. This assessment is going to tell you what the safety of your company looks like at the moment.
For example, you will be able to tell how many employees have received safety training and how many have not. You can tell how many incidents there have been in the past certain amount of time. You can determine the quality of your current training. Then you will know what changes you need to make and have an idea of how you can implement them.
3. Have a Safety Champion
Of course, you’re going to need someone in your company to implement all of these changes and put the work in to make them a reality. That’s where your safety champion comes in. This is the employee who will lead these changes, develop strategies, and build a safety team. This can either be someone already in your company or someone you hire to take this role. However, just make sure it’s someone who is going to take this job seriously. They will need to put in the work necessary to make your workplace safe.
4. Train Employees on Proper Safety Procedures
Training is one of the most important ways that you can make your workplace safe. Unless you train your employees, there is no way that they are going to know how to work safely. Employees who lack training are going to act more recklessly. They will not be aware of certain procedures that are crucial to their health and wellness.
Therefore, it’s essential that you have positive safety training workshops on a regular basis. Every employee needs to know proper procedures and other crucial details. And when you hire someone new, be sure to include safety training as a critical part of their onboarding process.
5. Require Refresher Workshops Periodically
However, you can’t just give your employees one training workshop and call it a day. You should require them to go through updated safety training every so often as well. This could be every quarter or every half a year. These workshops will give your employees updated information and inform them of new ways to stay safe on the job. Even if there’s nothing new to be said, it’s important to remind your employees on a regular basis of the importance of staying safe on the job.
6. Reward Employees for Being Safe and Involved
If your employees are being especially safe at work and you notice this, be sure to recognize and reward them. This will encourage other employees to follow their example. Also reward those employees who are actively involved in the safety process, especially those who have reported unsafe situations and conditions. When employees are involved in the safety process, the incidence of injury on the job is bound to decrease.
7. Update Safety Procedures Periodically
Your business changes over time, and your safety procedures should, too. Update your safety procedures to reflect new regulations or new machinery that requires extra safety steps while in use.
Conclusion
There you have it! Safety should be your number-one concern when you are running a business, especially if your organization includes warehouses or any other dangerous sites. Injuries on the job can land your business in serious trouble. So make sure that you keep the above points in mind—and keep your company safe from nasty legal trouble.
