Reducing workplace accidents and injuries often comes down to creating an atmosphere of safety. When workers think of safety as a goal in and of itself, rather than just production, they’ll take the time to be careful and avoid incidents.
Certainly, a work culture that emphasizes safety doesn’t mean that no one will ever get hurt on the job. Accidents inevitably will happen. A work atmosphere that emphasizes safety can at least reduce potential injuries, though.
Empowering employees to think about safety
One of the best ways to make safety matter is by empowering your employees to prioritize it. You should stress to your employees that safety is just as important as production and that you’re unwilling to compromise on that, even if the company could increase the bottom line.
Beyond that, however, safety is something that leadership teams and supervisors should promote. Messages such as this don’t resonate the same when they come from owners as they do when they come from colleagues. You’ll want to empower your employees to take responsibility for their safety on the job.
You should also be consistent with your employees. Many workers get injured because they feel pressure to do things unsafety so that they can accomplish more. If you consistently show them that you don’t want them to look at their work performance this way, they’ll follow your lead and resist the dangerous pressure employees often feel.
What about when an injury does happen?
As noted, workplace injuries are still going to happen. You’ll want to make sure that you know exactly where you stand when they do. You should also have a good command of the legal steps that you need to take in such instances.
