Every year, more than 4.1 million workers suffer a serious job-related injury or illness. From falls and machinery malfunctions to electrical issues and procedures that have not been effectively communicated or followed, there are numerous safety concerns in the workplace.
Having a safety program in place is a must. Your employees need to be prepared for anything, and your management needs to know how to deal with any accidents that do happen.
In order to keep your office educated and safe, we recommend the following four tips for running a successful safety program. You need to prepare, you need to promote, you need to budget, and you need to boost...and here’s how to do it all.
1. Make sure management is on board. Go over the benefits of the program with them, and let them know what will be taking place and when.
Safety programs cost money, but accidents may be costing your company more each year, when taking into consideration factors such as workers’ compensation, legal suits, equipment repairs, medical insurance, training and absenteeism.
Therefore, you’ll need to calculate all the figures, present them to management and work up a budget for the safety program.
2. Get fully prepared. While safety programs will vary, depending on your company’s location, size, industry and needs, all of them need to have set objectives and goals.
When planning this program, start by listing out all of the biggest safety concerns. You can ask around to learn about different problems in different areas, you can check last year’s accident reports, and you can personally monitor the workplace and develop recommendations for effective control strategies.
You will probably find areas that need to be changed/updated by management, procedures that are not currently being followed and issues with safety attitudes and awareness. All of these categories indicate that employees need further education and motivation when it comes to safety.
3. That being said, the objectives and goals for this program should be communicated clearly around the office, and the program should be promoted effectively.
Announce the program in a meaningful way, going over why this program is happening and what will be gained throughout it. Make sure everyone - including management - is present during this announcement, showing that this is a team effort.
The objective should be easy to convey - having no on-the-job accidents or injuries - and the steps needed to get there should be a joint discussion: Do your workers need more safety training? Do they understand current procedures? Do they have printed materials about safety measures? All of these questions could lead to individualized workshops, handouts and info sessions.
Advertise the program further by hanging posters, publishing the news in company literature, sending out an overview via email and creating a bulletin board dedicated to the effort (which will be important in this next step). You could even hand out promotional products at the beginning of it all, such as flashlights, phone mounts or umbrellas, in order to excite people.
4. While the knowledge gained in such a program should be reward enough, incentivize program participants in a meaningful way.
For some, a point system may work best. For instance, if your budget has established a maximum of $50 per worker to be used during this program, this system would result in earning one point (worth $1) for every week a worker is accident and injury free. Fifty weeks of this will lead to an award and to a full year of no accidents/injuries - meaning you have spent $50 but gained tons (since employers pay almost $1 billion per week for direct workers' compensation costs alone).
Of course, some friendly competition is always nice, too, so your awards could be based on the efforts of teams you create in the office. Whatever you choose, just make sure to communicate your objectives, goals and benefits clearly. Then, as the program is going, you can recognize jobs well done on that bulletin board we mentioned earlier, as well as in company newsletters, at meetings, via social media and with prizes. (Safety Incentives Plus has an array of promotional products, which could all work well for program prizes!)
A weather station/clock is a nice gift, which promotes safety and looks nice on any desk!
At the end, consider having an awards banquet or a party of some sort, to celebrate and to mark the end of the program. This will remind your office how important safety is and reward them for their hard work. And turn to Safety Incentives Plus for all your safety needs!