Lead by Example
Strong leadership best practices set the tone for the rest of the team. They implement an effective safety and health program and ensure everyone follows protocol. Business owners, managers, and supervisors are responsible for:
- Making worker safety and health a core organizational value.
- Eliminating hazards, protecting workers, and continuously improving safety and health on job sites.
- Providing sufficient resources to maintain the safety and health program.
- Visibly demonstrating and communicating their commitment to worker safety and health.
- Setting an example through their actions.
Encourage Worker Participation
Health and safety programs don’t work without the meaningful participation of workers and their representatives. Workers understand potential job hazards better than anyone. Engaging them in workplace health and safety programs ensures that you recognize previously unknown job risks.
Successful programs tap into this knowledge base. All workers should participate, including subcontractors and temporary staff. Their feedback and participation help establish, operate, evaluate, and improve the safety and health program.
In an effective safety and health program, workers:
- Are encouraged to participate in the program.
- Feel comfortable providing input and reporting safety or health concerns.
- Have access to information and resources they need to participate in the program.
- Have opportunities to participate in the program and suggest employee safety guidelines.
- Do not experience retaliation when they raise safety and health concerns; report injuries, illnesses, and hazards; participate in the program; exercise safety and health rights.
Implement Hazard Assessments
Unanticipated hazards can arise due to changes in project timelines, sequence of events, and fast-paced environments. Health care, emergency services, and construction are just a few examples of careers that involve higher levels of risk.
Hazard identification and assessment are crucial to an effective health and safety program. On-the-job injuries, illnesses, and incidents often occur when leadership fails to recognize hazards that are present, or that could have been anticipated. Proactive, ongoing protocols that identify and assess workplace hazards keep employees safe.
Provide the Correct Education and Training
Education and training inform workers and managers about hazards and controls so they can work more safely and be more productive. It also provides a greater understanding of the safety and health program and how managers and employees can contribute to its development and implementation. Training offers employers, managers, supervisors, and workers with:
- Knowledge and skills needed to do their work safely and prevent hazards that could put themselves or others at risk.
- Awareness and understanding of hazards and how to identify, report, and control them.
- Specialized training for unique hazards.
- Additional workplace safety tips.
Introduce Program Evaluations
Once a health and safety program is put in place, it should be evaluated to verify that it is being implemented correctly. After, leadership should assess what is working, what is not working, and whether the program is on track to achieve its goals. This allows employers, managers, and supervisors to identify opportunities to improve the program and adjust it accordingly.
Program evaluations can include:
- Establishing, reporting, and tracking goals and targets that indicate progress.
- Evaluating the program initially, and periodically, to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Providing ways for workers to participate in program evaluation and improvement.
If you are looking for more ways to improve employee safety in the workplace, take a look at our Workplace Safety & Security outreach and guides. Our products ensure safety by supplying employees with the knowledge and resources they need to stay safe on the job and respond to emergencies and potential threats.