The value of proactive safety management
By taking a proactive approach to safety, managers and supervisors can significantly improve workplace safety culture. Despite their actions, safety managers may feel like they’re fighting against their company’s reactive safety culture.
Staying on top of safety efforts can help reduce avoidable workplace injuries. The key is for safety managers to encourage and motivate their companies to adopt the same sentiment. Here are some ways to do that.
Stay up to date on policies and procedures
Change is a common theme for companies, whether it relates to technologies, employee dynamics, or environments. As these changes occur, it’s important to ensure policies and procedures align with them. If a company moves offices, for example, some of its safety guidelines may need to be changed to correlate with the new setup.
When possible, it’s also beneficial to consider future plans in the pipeline and begin brainstorming how to manage policies and procedures in those cases.
Serve up safety training in small doses
If too much information is thrown at employees at once, chances are they may start to feel burnt out. To keep safety guidelines fresh in the minds of employees, give them quick daily reminders. These reminders can come through e-mails or be posted as signs around the office. Furthermore, you can routinely schedule emergency procedure drills to ensure employees know how to handle emergencies properly.
Monitor employees in the workplace
While additional training can help reinforce safety measures, it’s important to see firsthand that employees are observing such guidelines. For instance, safety managers should regularly check to see if employees are using the safety equipment and tools made available to them. They should also check to see that the equipment fits properly and is in good working order. When any inconsistencies are noted between the required guidelines and their findings, the appropriate actions should be taken.
Create a culture with open communication
Employees should feel free to speak up about safety and health concerns in the workplace, as well as suggest ideas for improvement. One way to facilitate this is by holding meetings during which employees have a chance to share such feedback. You can also create an online portal or set up a hotline service where employees can report issues anonymously. These efforts offer greater insight into issues that may not have been apparent beforehand.
Make sure that when you make the first big step to open up communications, your organization is truly ready to listen and take action. This can backfire on you and make relationships with personnel worse, particularly if they put out the effort to share their knowledge and energy and saw no action. On the other hand, meaningful action taken against issues can improve relationships with personnel dramatically.
Adopt one system to track data
Tracking data is key to solving workplace safety problems before they occur. While stand-alone programs can make it difficult to keep tabs on all the elements involved, an integrated program does a great job of collecting all the relevant materials in one setting. This makes it easier to pinpoint specific issues and facilitate routes for improvements.
A safety management system is an important investment for a company. EHS Hero’s Process Safety Management solution can help you implement and maintain your safety procedures.
