The Importance Of Employee Safety Programs
Jul 12, 2022
There are vital steps a business/association can take, in order to implement an effective employee safety program and, in turn, help encourage safety and wellness in the workplace.
Each year, there are around 340 million workplace accidents and injuries, which add up to a total cost of about $171 billion. These two stats alone should make every brand want to start an employee safety program.
An incentive program like this can regularly remind your team of how to stay safe and well and can, in turn, help avoid the costs, missed days of work, and even fatalities that are associated with these types of incidents at work.
Before creating a safety initiative, it’s important to look at the most common workplace injuries:
- Slips, trips, and falls
- Stress and overexertion
- Injuries caused by machinery
- Injuries caused by vehicles
- Fires/explosions
Next, a company/organization needs to know what makes a safety program an effective one. This involves having:
- Clear communication
- Easy-to-follow guidelines
- Regular meetings and check-ins
- Posted information
- Safety gear, safety incentives, and safety awards
After reviewing frequent accidents and what aspects should be included in a program, a team will then want to create a structure. This will 
provide employees with examples of how to boost safety/wellness at work and why to do so. Some go-to ways to encourage safety at work include:
- Group workouts, such as walks at lunch or yoga in the morning
- Continuing education, with professionals coming in to discuss safety topics
- Medical offerings, such as annual flu shots
- Custom gear, given to all employees on day one
- Safety rewards, such as imprinted plaques or branded tech gifts
By looking around your place of work, you will be able to make changes that can prevent accidents, injuries, and deaths. By thinking about why to encourage workplace safety, you will have a better understanding of how to present the information. And by laying out a clear program, you will do your part in working to keep employees safe.