As individuals and as a company, now is the perfect time to look at the past year and see what is state of the “culture,” what is working and what should change. Operationally, have you developed a culture that embraces safe work practices? “Safety Culture” is nothing more than a reflection of the rest of the company’s foundation, structure, and execution. There are examples everywhere of leaders who “get it” and how their efforts have led to and marked improvement in their workplace safety culture. Protecting corporate and human capital is motivation enough to see that the next year lookback finds you on the positive side of the culture scale. With these 7 doable steps, your organization has the momentum it needs to build on your safety culture and become the beacon great employees are looking for.
- Management Leadership/Accountability
An executed safety policy statement detailing the company’s commitment to safety demonstrates leadership’s accountability at all levels. - Safety Programs
A specifically written safety program allows a company to identify and address each specific risk within a company operation. - Hiring Practices/Orientation
HR Best Practices confirming proper screening selection and orientation are adhered to by all employees. - Safety Meetings/Trainings
All employees are responsible for safety and injury prevention by participating in d documented weekly/monthly meetings. Formal safety meetings/trainings:- Identify current operational exposures
- Embrace safe work practices
- Communicate expectations, and
- Reinforce desired behaviors
- Hazard Assessments
Recognize, anticipate, evaluate, and manage current and potential hazards. Assessments allow risks to be identified and addressed early. - Self-Inspection
Proactive self-inspections allow companies to identify and react with corrective actions resulting in incident reduction. - Incidents Investigation
Results and findings of an incident investigation are the perfect topic of a company’s safety meeting. Incident investigations identify the root cause and major contributing factors of the incident and prevent reoccurrence.