How to Improve the Safety Culture

The safety culture in an organization is an important factor because it prevents accidents and injuries from occurring in the workplace. The safety of all employees and visitors to a site is the responsibility of the business, and to remain compliant with industry regulations, necessary precautions need to be carried out to ensure that business grounds align with health and wellbeing procedures.

What Is A Safety Culture?

Depending on the nature of an organization, its safety culture will differ from that within another organization but in general, there are a few procedures that should be followed by all. Having a good safety culture means that an entire workforce will work in line with the same shared standards to not only feel safe when working but ensure those around them are also safe. The purpose of having a focused safety culture that is effectively implemented is to protect every member of a business from occupational health hazards, creating a safe working environment that abides by national law.

Senior management should be actively involved with the health and safety of their employees, ensuring that they are creating a safe work environment. From monitoring safety on an ongoing basis to enforcing discipline if an employee does not meet company standards, this allows leaders to maintain a workplace that is free from recognizable hazards. 

From the employee perspective, each worker is responsible for complying with any rules that have been enforced and following any procedures as per their training program. If every employee partakes in the safety initiatives on a company-wide scale, it can help identify any hazards early on and in turn minimize injuries and accidents.

What Bad Safety Culture Looks Like

Not all organizations have a good safety culture and often poor approaches to safety are taken without even realizing it. All employees should be able to have a say in the processes implemented as often leaders will not be able to pinpoint flaws that will be noticed by those who undertake their role daily. For example, if managers reward productivity, it can make employees feel the need to speed up the pace which can consequently be dangerous as less care is taken. 

Safety culture is based on several small actions which influence the way that employers work to adopt a safe working style. If there is a disconnect between how each worker in a business approaches safety measures, it shows a lack of communication which can cause disagreements, inconsistencies, and accidents.

How To Introduce Safety Culture

Analyze accident history

To identify any hazardous areas within the business which have caused multiple accidents, taking a look through past reports will allow any correlations to be identified. The past five years should all be analyzed, pulling data such as the number of annual injury reports, any injury expenses, and lost time following incidents. It is also worth finding out if any OSHA citations have been permanently addressed and if they have not been, making this a priority. Ensuring that any safety programs are implemented and fixing any faulty equipment are simple starting points that can instantly cut out some obvious hazards.

Listen to employee insights

The people right in front of you are those who can provide the most valuable learnings. Make sure to ask workers from all departments about any safety issues they believe are present so you can learn more about the existing safety culture within the organization, identifying areas for improvement which may have never even been considered. To get the insight needed, one-on-one chats will provide thorough answers but group discussions are also handy, brainstorming ideas to learn from multiple points of view.

Carry out a risk assessment

A risk assessment focuses on finding safety hazards and is used to evaluate potential safety issues that could arise in the foreseeable future. The process sees a business owner identify and evaluate the hazards so they can formulate a plan to move forward with. Carrying out risk assessments frequently means any obvious or hidden hazards do not remain untreated and can be addressed before it is too late.

Allocate safety leaders

Within an organization, appointing one or more employees as designated safety officers means there are certain workers responsible for keeping an eye on safety hazards. They will need to be trained in health and safety so choosing those who are respected within the company will mean that enforcing any new processes is more likely to be taken seriously. The committee should consist of a combination of managers, supervisors, and hourly employees so that all aspects of the business are covered and suggestions can be made from those at all levels.

Report any incidents

In the case of any accidents in the workplace, it is key that incidents of all severity are recorded. Whether it is a small injury that did not cause any interruption to the day or more severe incidents which saw property damaged, it should be logged in a reporting system with information such as disruption, cost, and future prevention. When workers are in danger of being injured, they should not be afraid to speak up when they see a hazard, addressing it before an accident has time to occur. All safety officers should take these conversations very seriously, listening to the concerns and speaking to the necessary people to ensure something is done right away. 

Reward good behavior from employees 

To ensure the safety culture is taken seriously by all workers, it should always be recognized when employees are complying with the safety processes. Recognizing both individual and group efforts by openly talking about the achievements will make workers feel seen and appreciated, boosting morale and keeping a happy workforce. This approach takes attention from ‘nagging’ about safety culture or worries following a workplace accident, ensuring everyone is more aware of their surroundings and working as a team.