Creating a Safe Work Environment

It has been proven that when safety is treated at the same level of importance as productivity, cost saving and quality, companies save hundreds of thousands of dollars daily by preventing injuries.

How can you incorporate safety in your daily work interactions?

It is up to supervisors and managers to ensure a safe work environment. When leaders enforce safety rules and empower employees to maintain safety standards, fatal and non-fatal injuries can be prevented. You responsibly create a safe work environment when you:

• Create a “safety first” environment, where safety is as important as your other values.
• Incorporate daily walks where you observe, correct and coach. By using all your senses you can identify potential risks, address them with your employees and teach them how to mitigate those risks and avoid injuries.
• Be proactive; enforce a Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) policy is in effect at all times. Start with yourself. Then praise and thank your employees when using best PPE practices and address any areas for improvement in a coaching manner.
• When something is not right, address it immediately with your employee. Do not wait. Managers have an obligation to incorporate safety conversations daily.

Remember that an injured employee impacts not only themselves and their families, but also their coworkers, supervisors and the organization as a whole. Productivity decelerates, quality becomes questionable, the organization gets hit with a medical bill – and this huge cost increase can be well prevented. By integrating safety in your organization, there is a much higher chance to increase the quality of your products and services, as well as productivity by keeping morale high and employees motivated.

Keep in mind that a company’s culture will not change if you are not starting with a top-down approach; it starts with you, the leader. Let’s make a joint effort to incorporate safety behaviors and principles in our daily interactions with employees.

Take one step closer to creating a safe environment by joining IMEC and OSHA in Southern Illinois as we recognize Safe and Sound Week in August. You will learn best practices for creating a safe and healthy workplace for your team. View the agenda and register below!

Safety and Health in Southern Illinois
August 15 | 10:00 am -2:00 pm
John A. Logan College | Carterville, IL