How to Encourage and Improve Upon Workplace Safety
More than 888,000 nonfatal injuries at work caused workers to miss at least one day of work. The result is lost time, productivity, and revenue for businesses.
In many cases, workers choose to leave their jobs, especially after multiple injuries. They begin to lose trust in your company and don’t feel safe to return to work.
Improving workplace safety standards in your company can restore that trust and lower your turnover rates. Keep reading to find out how you can improve safety in the workplace.
1. Know the Workplace Safety Laws
Do you know the worker safety laws? There are some federal standards set by OSHA and the Department of Labor. Most laws are written at the state level and they vary by industry.
It’s important that you know and meet your legal workforce obligations. This is the first step to comply and create a culture around safety in your business.
2. Create a Culture of Safety
Company culture reflects the values, attitudes, and perceptions of a company. If these things don’t reflect that you value safety above production, you’re in trouble.
A safety culture emphasizes worker safety above everything else, even meeting delivery deadlines. This sends the message to workers that they’re important and valued.
When workers are valued, they produce their best work. They become loyal employees. That translates into a positive work culture and higher productivity.
3. Have a Workplace Safety Policy
This ensures that all employees know what to expect and they’re treated the same. That puts employees at ease because it shows that you take workplace safety seriously.
It helps you protect your business from accusations of negligence and mistreatment.
You’ll need to put a committee together to create the policy. Your next step is to audit the workplace to address the risks to your workers.
As you create the written policy, you need to address what happens when an employee gets hurt. There should be a point person to report the injury to. You should also make them aware of the worker’s compensation laws in your state.
4. Get Feedback From Workers
As you shift your workplace culture, you want to see how the changes impact workers. Get feedback from workers on a regular basis.
This can be done through anonymous surveys or one-on-one interviews. You’ll find that employees have a ton of helpful suggestions to improve workplace safety.
Be prepared to listen to those suggestions and act on some of them. It’s another way of showing employees that you value their contributions.
Don’t Ignore Workplace Safety
Workplace safety isn’t a priority for many businesses until someone gets injured on the job. If you don’t improve workplace health and safety, you’re going to lose employees. That impacts your bottom line.
These workplace safety tips show that it is possible. You need to understand the laws in your state, have a policy in place, and create a culture in your company that emphasizes workplace safety.
Do you want more business tips? Visit the Business section of this site.
