A safe workplace is beneficial for everyone. Your employees avoid injuries, and you save money on workers’ compensation claims. Plus, it just creates a better atmosphere when employees know you are watching out for their safety and health.
Getting employees to abide by safety regulations, though, is not always easy. While they may know on some level that doing certain things is important, they may still ignore safety rules because they are inconvenient or they feel they are pointless.
It is important for you to encourage employee involvement in following safety protocols, and here are some ways to do that.
Raise Awareness
The Midwest Independent Retailers Association explains that you need to raise employee awareness of the importance of safety protocols. You need to give them training often and make it clear that adherence to safety guidelines is not optional.
You can also make employees more aware by demanding complete compliance. This means everyone from the lowest employee to the CEO is accountable for following all rules, procedures, and policies.
Provide Initiatives
Make adhering to safety protocols something that everyone wants to do because they have the chance to get something in return. You can provide special rewards for those who go so many weeks or months without a safety violation.
You could offer a free paid day off for every month there are no accidents or something similar that will get employees excited about safety. Keep records so that you can stay on top of rewards. If you start to miss them or delay them, your employees may decide it isn’t worth the hassle because they aren’t getting the rewards you promised.
Encourage Involvement
When you involve your employees in the process of creating a safe workplace, they feel like they have a stake in it. You can create a safety committee that gives employees direct input into safety. It gives them a chance to voice concerns and to make statements about how they feel about certain protocols.
When you involve your employees in safety, they are more likely to report issues and stay on top of things. It encourages them because instead of seeming like more orders from the top, they see it as a group effort where everyone is working towards the same goal.
Create a Safety Culture
Concentra explains that one of the best ways to encourage safety and get your employees on board is to make safety your culture. It should be something they cannot ignore. Use horizontal safety banners to make important announcements and grab attention. Have signage all over. Make it something they see everywhere they go.
Provide them with safety equipment and keep it in good repair. Make it simple for employees to get replacement equipment. Make it easy for them to report safety issues. Turn it into a group effort where safety isn’t even something they have to think about but rather something they have in their mind automatically.
Add in Humor
Have fun with safety as well. While it is a serious subject, that doesn’t mean that you can’t inject a little humor. People often relate better to funny things, so adding a bit of humor into the mix can make employees pay better attention.
It is important, though, that you know when humor is appropriate and when it is not. You want to get the message across clearly above all else.
Create a Safe Workplace
Creating a safe workplace is about more than just putting safety protocols in place. To make it work, you need to get employees on board. There are many ways that you can encourage them to pay attention to safety. It takes a little extra work, but it is well worth it when you ensure your employees are safe and accidents are minimal.