Unsafe working conditions put your workers at risk and can take a toll on your business financially. The U.S. Department of Labor reports, “Employers pay almost $1 billion per week for direct workers’ compensation costs alone, which doesn’t include other expenses like medical costs and legal fees.” As you’ll find out, one of the best ways to maximize workplace safety is through proper prevention. Here are some ways to make injury and illness prevention part of your culture from the top to the bottom.
Meetings
Communication is a big part of maintaining safety, and you’ll want all your team members to be on the same page. Routine meetings are the perfect setting for addressing safety concerns and offer everyone a chance to provide their input.
For example, some of your workers may mention that critical safety equipment like gloves and goggles are in poor shape and need to be replaced. From there, you can come up with ideas to resolve those issues—in this case, investing in new safety gloves and goggles—and keep your workers in the loop.
Form a Committee
A safety committee is a group of individuals that are responsible for overseeing injury and illness prevention and setting long-term goals to make your workplace as safe as possible. When forming a committee, Safety+Health Magazine recommends using a variety of individuals with different backgrounds.
Ideally, it will consist of managers as well as your general labor force because more diversity means several different perspectives. In turn, this should lead to more comprehensive safety guidelines and policy making.
Tie Responsibility to Every Individual
Safety should never be limited to a single department or person. It should be the collective responsibility of everyone within your organization. After all, an error or oversight by one person could potentially affect countless others. So be diligent about getting all employees to take responsibility for their actions and explain how a safe workplace is in everyone’s best interest.
Safety isn’t something to take lightly, especially for high-risk positions like machine operation and manufacturing. Prevention is always better than cure, and you don’t want to wait until an incident occurs before you act. By making safety a company-wide priority, you can greatly reduce your risk level and improve the safety and well-being of your entire team.
Looking for expert help with staffing or payroll? Get in touch with Encadria Staffing Solutions today.