How to Prioritise Workplace Safety Even after Training

Workplace safety is paramount. It’s vital for the health and wellbeing of the workers and also benefits the business. With a safe work environment, workers can perform their duties without any fear of injuries or death. Prioritising safety is one of the essential ways to reduce accident risks and enhance worker productivity. The following are effective ways businesses can prioritise workplace safety even after training. Please read on.

1. Talk Safety Every Day

You need to use every opportunity to talk to your workforce about the importance of safety and the consequences if they fail to comply. Talk about the latest trends and information affecting their safety. Praise safe performance, point out areas for improvement, correct unsafe behaviour, and allow workers to provide their feedback and safety concerns. Encourage them to come forward with their problems, suggestions, and questions. Communication should flow both ways for the talks to be effective. You may decide to implement an active suggestion system to encourage two-way communication between the management and the workers.

2. Embrace Teamwork to Address Problems and Improve Safety

To keep safety a priority in your organisation demands that you encourage worker participation in promoting and improving workplace health and safety programs. One excellent way to achieve this is by forming safety committees to include at least one member of the management and the staff. You can also set up worker teams in each department to help identify and solve safety issues specific to their line of work. The team should gather relevant information, analyse roots of safety issues, develop and test solutions, and monitor results. The team should also be up to date with the trends in the industry to keep the safety message alive and the workers engaged through training and retraining. The formation of teams can make members feel they’re a part of the company safety. However, ensure to observe all the social distancing UK guidelines during the meetings to keep your workers safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Develop a “Want-To” Safety Culture

Consider establishing and maintaining a safety culture that prompts workers to observe safe practices to avoid injuries and not because they have to. Help them see the importance of making safe decisions to keep themselves and their colleagues safe. Remind them of the safety-related decisions they make and how a single bad decision can result in a severe injury, or worse, death. With such a culture, the management will have an easy time implementing safety policies and procedures.

4. Train Your Workers to Become Hazard Detectives

You need to encourage every employee to look for hazards in their daily duties all over the workplace. There should be an effective system where workers can report health and safety problems and the management responds promptly to mitigate the hazards identified by the workers. The management needs to listen to the safety concerns and problems raised by the employees to encourage the employees to always be on the lookout knowing that their views are respected. It is important to note that the employees have a better understanding of their job better than anyone else hence are in a better position to recognise potential safety hazards including those that might otherwise be overlooked.