Workplace safety is something all employers take seriously. Nearly 153 accidents occur every 15 seconds within a workplace, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, and around 61% of men and 39% of women miss work due to work-related illnesses.
With that being said, employees’ safety must be the top priority of every workplace, organization, and its employers that help save lives boosts employees’ morale, increases their productivity, and reduces the cost occurring as a result of accidents or injuries.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), a safety culture can have a significant impact on the overall health and safety outcomes within the workplace. It must be a top priority of every business owner to maintain high-quality standards of risk management within their work environment.
What is a Safety Culture?
Safety culture includes the values, perceptions, and beliefs of your employees about safety and health in the workplace.
A safety culture within a business, organization or the workplace is highly influenced by the existing safety and health practices within the company and how these policies are enforced within the workplace.
Positive safety culture is characterized by a responsible attitude toward safety at all levels of business. This requires the management to implement a proactive approach to ensure they meet safety standards at all costs and to create a risk-free environment for its employees.
Therefore, this blog explains some effective tips to improve the safety culture in an organization or the workplace.
Key Elements of a Safety Culture
The key elements that make up and define the type of your safety culture are:
- Shared Values
This means agreeing on what is important and matters for workplace safety. It also means emphasizing safe working as well as production and profit.
- Workers Involvement
While making decisions for occupational safety and health policies, employers are required to involve their staff members in the process to ensure their employees actively take part in activities to mitigate the hazards.
- Behavioral Norms
This means agreeing on the ways things can be done within the workplace to ensure safety for all.
- Reporting
This involves providing an efficient and easy way for employees to report health and safety concerns and then acting upon them to reduce workplace hazards.
Ways to Improve Safety Culture Within an Organization
Below are some of the tips to help improve the safety culture within the organization:
- Keep Your Workplace Tidy
A neat workplace stimulates confidence to reduce workplace hazards, make your environment clean, and eliminate the risks.
A workplace is a reflection of you and your employees, therefore, creating and ensuring a tidy place for all is beneficial to enhancing employees’ productivity as well as boosting their morale.
To ensure a workplace is tidy, employers must ensure that:
- All the doors & windows are in a good condition
- They have good lighting installed within their workspace
- They conduct regular repairs for all the work equipment
- Encourage Communication
Communication is one of the effective ways to encourage a safe culture within the organization. It helps encourage constructive conversation regarding a safe workplace. The simplest way to go about is by verbally communicating with the employees that help them find a way to promote safety at work.
- Show Employees That They are Valued
Another way to support a safe workplace is by showing your employees that they are valued. Praise and acknowledge the tasks your employees perform to make them feel valued and appreciated. This enhances their self-confidence, increases productivity, and so will be beneficial for the business or organization in the long run.
- Take Actions
To achieve and maintain good safety standards within the workplace, employers need to back up their words with the actions that can help them implement vital control measures to mitigate workplace hazards. This will help them meet safety standards as well as promote a safe workplace for all.
- Invest in Health & Safety Training
Another essential step that employers can take to create a safe workplace for their staff is to adequately train them. Investment in health and safety courses from Coast to Coast First Aid and Aquatics can benefit a business, workplace, or the organization in long term.
There are numerous safety training courses that employers can opt for their staff, but some of the essential ones are first aid training, fire safety training, bullying and harassment training IOSH managing safely, working at height training, slips, trips, and falls training, manual handling training, and many others like these.
- Address Toxic Behaviors
A toxic work environment affects and destroys a company’s reputation. It wastes a lot of time and energy of the staff, reduces their productivity, and increases the staff turnover rate.
Alongside this, it can lead companies to pay heavy fines for not meeting the law or the cost of accidents and injuries they have to pay for.
- Be Proactive
Being proactive is one of the effective ways to create a safe and secure workplace for all. Being an employer, it is your foremost duty to analyze the workplace for any hazard that may pose danger to its employees like objects falling from a height, manual handling injuries, or any other issue.
Being actively involved in the process to prepare for any near miss beforehand is an effective approach employer can take to create a safe workplace.
Conclusion
Accidents and injuries are part of every workplace or organization that promotes a safe workplace for all. Employers must take into account vital controls to ensure their staff is safe whilst at work. These tips will help improve the safety culture within your organization.
