Protecting employees in the workplace is very important. Many official rules and guidelines are in place across different industries to make workers safer. Unfortunately, not all employees follow correct safety guidelines while working. Some people ignore safety in order to save time, because it seems unnecessary or because it is inconvenient. Five tips will help managers and leaders to encourage workplace safety.
5. Hands-On Training and Drills
Regular training sessions and drills will encourage workers to follow proper workplace safety guidelines. Trainings can remind employees about the correct procedures. Safety drills allow employees to become comfortable with the equipment. The trainings and drills should occur once every month or two in order to maintain a focus on safety.
4. Safety Contests
Encouraging workplace safety sometimes means engaging employees with contests or competitions. These could be daily trivia contests about safety. They could also be month-long contests to see who has the fewest safety issues. Employees can be given small rewards at the end. This keeps workers thinking about safety while also providing incentives to follow best practices in the workplace.
3. Make Safety Equipment Easily Accessible
Some employees might be ignoring workplace safety guidelines because certain pieces of equipment are missing or in an inconvenient location. It is helpful to keep all safety equipment in areas that are easily accessible. This could mean keeping the same type of gear in several different locations. Making equipment easily accessible to employees in every part of a facility or work site increases the chance that workers will use the safety gear.
2. Create Teams
Creating teams of employees with a single person in charge of workplace safety can make a significant difference. Teams encourage safe practices by using peer pressure. The leader of each team will be near the other workers throughout the day. This makes it possible to correct safety issues and encourage better behaviors. Teams will also self-reinforce positive behaviors and increase safety throughout the entire workplace.
1. Hang Eye-Catching Infographics
Many employees stop acknowledging standardized text-only workplace safety signs over time. One way to encourage safe practices is to hang eye-catching and informative infographics throughout the area. Infographics are colorful posters that include graphics and text. They are easy to understand and can relay a large amount of information quickly. Businesses like Infographic World can create custom designs that fit the business and the intended message. Infographics can be used to list proper safety procedures or to show the consequences of ignoring workplace safety.