In your company, you understand why safety is important. You know the risks and what can happen to your team and you want to keep them from injury or worse. You follow the OSHA requirements and know the processes and repercussions should something happen. Sometimes, it feels like you live and breathe safety, but does your team feel the same?
In order to get general buy-in, you need to change how your employees view safety. Here are some suggestions to extend the understanding beyond management.
Develop a company culture built on safety
If safety isn’t the expectation, your employees will never take it seriously. When it becomes ingrained in your company culture, it will be second nature to follow the rules and even report violations.
Start with additional training and signed contracts with your current team if safety needs to be more of a focus. Then, when you onboard new employees, impress the importance of it on them and have them sign as well. Eventually, by doing this, safety will become a part of your company.
Keep your team updated
Regulations change and new equipment is installed, so make sure you’re holding meetings and trainings when necessary. This way, there’s no excuse for not knowing and you can be sure everyone is educated.
There might be grumblings about meetings at first, but like building it into your culture, soon it will become an understood part of the job. Plus, you can use this as a recruiting tool to let potential employees know you value both safety and training.
Develop rewards system for safety practices
While you don’t want to develop a culture built around tattle tales, you can reward other safety practices to provide an additional incentive for following the company rules. For example, if an employee notices something off with a machine and reports it, that could qualify for a public acknowledgement and small reward. You could even develop a safe employee of the month program to recognize someone who consistently makes it a priority.
Find the safe employees you need today
The right employees can make or break your company, which is why you need more than just a body in a role. You want performers who value what’s important to your company, like safety. We put our employees through an extensive evaluation process, including background checks, testing, and drug screenings, to make sure they’re the real deal.
Next time you’re looking for an employee in your light industrial, warehouse, manufacturing, or office/administration setting, trust Workbox Staffing to deliver. Contact us today to get started!
