We live in a world where safety is an integral part of our lives. Whether driving, crossing the street or working at a job site, safety should always be on our minds. Safety is something that starts with us and can trickle down into everything that we do; it’s crucial to not only think about ourselves but also others around us. Companies should take these eight steps to improve their safety performance.

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Develop A Safety Culture

Safety culture is the values and behaviours that define how a company operates with respect to safety. It takes time, commitment, and effort from everyone in an organization to reduce injuries and incidents effectively.

A strong safety culture reduces accidents by changing individual behaviour, leading to more efficient operations within your business. By implementing safety initiatives, companies can encourage staff members who have experienced unsafe conditions or poor performance of others to report them instead of taking matters into their own hands through other methods. Being proactive in their approach to safety is essential when implementing a new culture for any company.

Implement A Safety Policy

One of the best things companies can do to improve their safety performance is to implement a workplace policy. They should identify what type of hazards are present in their workplace and create policies that address these issues. Company-wide communication about this policy will encourage employees to follow it, but regular reminders should be sent out, so everyone remembers! Policies ultimately show a clear commitment from senior management that safety is a priority within the business. In addition, policies should outline what is expected of the staff members regarding safety and provide them with the support and resources they need to stay safe daily.

Train Your Team

Provide training to employees. The more they know, the better equipped they will handle dangerous situations and prevent accidents. Train your supervisors first as a set of examples for other workers on how safety should be addressed in all aspects of everyday work life. Training should comprise various topics such as safety procedures, equipment identification and use, reporting hazards and more.

Training should be conducted regularly (at least once a year) to ensure that your team continues to have the knowledge needed to stay safe during their workday. Not only will this strengthen performance levels, but it also creates an open line of communication between you and your employees. Hence, they feel comfortable coming forward with any concerns or questions regarding company policies or problems about specific situations at the job site.

Invest In Safety Leadership Development

It goes without saying that leadership is a skill people must hone and develop throughout their careers. Investing in leadership development programs for employees at all levels can strengthen safety performance by creating an open dialogue within the company and between management and staff. Leadership training provides opportunities to discuss best practices and foster relationships through collaboration, giving everyone involved a better understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and how they interact with each other. It’s also essential to ensure that these conversations are happening regularly across departments to avoid misinterpretation or confusion about policies or procedures.

Investing in leadership development, especially at the mid-level where much misunderstanding occurs, will ultimately lead to a more proactive company culture that values safety performance as high as it does sales or product output.

Simplify Safe Working Procedures

Complicated safety procedures can be a massive deterrent to safety performance. In addition, overly complex workflows make it difficult for employees to do their job correctly, and in turn, can lead them to cut corners or not follow safety protocols at all.

Companies could simplify the workflow by identifying which steps are necessary and eliminating any that aren’t essential. As a result, employees will appreciate having less paperwork on their plates, and your compliance efforts won’t suffer from narrowing down processes that need further attention.

Additionally, when supervisors involve employees in the review of procedures, it allows team members to have input, resulting in improved ownership and consistency.

Promote The Reporting Of Incidents

Time and time again, we read about the importance of reporting incidents. But companies fail to give their employees a compelling reason as to why they must report such incidents themselves instead of waiting for an external audit or investigation into safety compliance at your site. If companies want people to file incident reports more often, they should make sure those reports are easy and quick to submit (or, even better, eliminate designated forms altogether). Surveys show that human beings like convenience. If filing an incident report is too difficult or inconvenient, chances are many will opt not to do so because there’s no need in putting forth extra effort when it isn’t necessary!

Review Supplier Quality Control

Suppliers of safety products should pay attention to the importance of maintaining a consistent level of quality control throughout their processes. This means following standards specific to industry regulations related to safe manufacturing practices and meeting or exceeding international standards for workplace health and safety performance. Additionally, they should provide clear communication on any changes in methods used during production so customers know how this may affect results. Specifications for specialized personal protective equipment should be discussed with their breathing apparatus supplier or other specialised suppliers.

Identify And Breakdown Barriers To Effective Two-Way Communication

Effective communication is a vital part of any organization. Without it, companies cannot achieve their goals, and employees cannot meet their expectations. However, many organizations do not successfully establish two-way communication between management and staff because they fail to identify where barriers are occurring within the work environment to prevent this flow of information.

In conclusion, there are many things companies can do to improve their safety performance. However, identifying what needs improvement and taking the time to break down barriers are critical components of any safety strategy. Ultimately companies need to close the loop and ensure deviations from the plan get corrected to stay on the path to a no harm workplace culture.