The Benefits of Creating a Safety-Aware Environment in the Workplace

The Benefits of Creating a Safety-Aware Environment in the Workplace

Introduction:
Safety in the workplace is undergoing change: evolving from an optional extra to a compliance necessity, firms are now increasingly recognizing the countless benefits of developing, and committing to, a strong safety culture. These range between increased staff morale and increased productivity, to reduced injury-related costs, competitive insurance premiums and improved turnover profits and reputation.

However, encouraging a culture of safety involves more than mere lip service. Safety-orientated values, long-term commitments to firm-wide safety, and consistent concrete actions will determine which organisations will reap the rewards of creating and maintaining a highly effective safety culture.

What is meant by way of a "Safety Culture", and why is it important?

Safety at work saves lives; it also saves money. In line with the 2013 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, US businesses lose more than a billion dollars a week in compensation costs due to the 10 most common workplace injuries and illnesses - incidents that could be prevented with proper safety measures set up. These figures usually do not take into account the associated productivity losses and administrative expenses, which are estimated to total a further $120 billion, annually.

Too often, safety in the workplace is regarded as a pricey option, and the expense of implementing an effective and comprehensive safety policy becomes the firm's overriding concern. However, the costs to a company of not developing and nurturing a positive safety culture are saturated in many regards. A poor safety record will result in the next knock-on effects:

? Higher insurance premiums
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? Higher injury and illness rates
? Expense of replacing injured / ill workers
? Expense of high staff turnover
? Compensation and legal costs
? Damaged employee morale
? Cost of replacing damaged property

Furthermore, not only will an organisation's profits / turnover suffer, but also its reputation - the price of that is largely unquantifiable.

So what is intended by a "Safety Culture"?

A culture of safety in an organisation is one where safety at work is intrinsic in the values and standards of the firm. However, it is not enough for the organisation to carry specific values; these must manifest themselves in the words the organisation uses, in addition to in the actions it requires.

The principles held should be properly and consistently communicated to staff. The words used, plus the tone, will impress upon all personnel how seriously management takes safety at work. Staff members will always take their cue from the managerial communication they receive, overt or elsewhere; if they are consistently positive and supportive, the foundations of a confident safety culture will be laid.

Much like any situation, however, actions speak louder then words. Any actions, however small, which decision-makers or managers take to encourage, promote or support safety in the workplace will have a confident knock-on influence on all personnel. (As a corollary, positive verbal communication could have little impact if it is not supported by similarly positive actions.) The most efficient actions which senior workers can take are those that overtly reward safety-oriented behaviour in others. This, more than anything, will send a note of the significance of safety to the organisation.

Altogether, a firm's safety culture is really a mix of its values, communications and, above all, its actions.

Developing your Firm's Safety Culture
All firms have a safety culture - however, not absolutely all have a positive one. Before you take steps to develop your firms, it is advisable to determine what sort of safety culture has already been in place.

Identify Your Own Culture
The first step is to talk to the personnel tasked with the organisation's safety - the correct manager or consultant. This will give feedback on which the firm would ideally wish its values to be. The truth, however, could be quite different, and will only be assessed from the bottom up: by communicating with all staff members, and identifying their perceptions of the organisation's safety culture.

The most efficient and comprehensive method of communicating with an employee about its safety culture is to develop and circulate questionnaires. To ensure honesty and candidness, any such questionnaire ought to be stated to be anonymous, free from negative consequences, and be aiming to act positively on the information gathered.

Furthermore, a questionnaire should address a broad range of safety culture indicators; as helpful information, one of the leaders safely Culture, Dan Petersen, identified 20 safety management categories, including: Attitude Towards Safety, Inspections, Employee Training, Supervisor Training, Involvement of Employees, and Operating Procedures. Such categories are worth taking into consideration as helpful information when developing or reviewing questionnaires.

Having determined how strong - or otherwise - your organisation's safety culture is, you can then take stock and design an idea for moving ahead. If your firm has a weak culture, then your first steps to take are to liaise with senior management to recognize the firm's policy. As a safety officer, you might initially be met with resistance, usually with regards to the perceived cost of implementation. A number of the costs and ramifications of a failure to develop a solid safety culture have been set out above, and should be communicated as necessary.

Develop and ENHANCE YOUR Firm's Culture
Irrespective of your organisation's existing position, there are numerous steps that can be taken up to improve a firm's culture. Obviously, all action taken should consider the organisation's industry, size and structure, but below are a few examples of actions that may apply irrespective of such confines:

? Involve Your Staff
The easiest method to create a strong safety culture would be to involve all personnel. Empowering staff sends the message that their role in the success of the firm is vital, and plays an important role in encouraging staff morale and pride. Staff can be involved in a myriad of ways, from providing feedback on firm policies, having a safety liaison officer, creating a safety committee, or developing plans pertinent to specific departments.

? Operate from the Top Down
The easiest way to ensure safe behaviour in the task place is to own it mirrored from management. Any safety policy implemented has to be demonstrated by senior management and decision makers.

? Introduce a Mentor Programme
A safety mentor programme is an efficient way of introducing new workers to the safety culture. As well as creating positive expectations from existing workers, it creates role models for incoming staff to check out.


? Implement Effective Training
Training itself is not sufficient: it should be effective. To the end it ought to be:
Comprehensive enough - too much information at one time is more prone to be forgotten;
Ongoing - one-off training is not enough. To demonstrate a genuine commitment to safety, training needs to be regular and periodic;
Flexible - effective training will be able to accommodate all levels of audience;
Relevant - tailor each training session based on the appropriate department; and
Organic - it should "grow" with the staff members.

? Diarise Safety Reviews
To be fully effective, a safety programme should also incorporate regular reviews. It really is worth, therefore, considering periodic meetings to discuss and review safety, looking not merely at internal issues and incidents, but additionally to discuss any relevant matters that have occurred within the industry which could impact on safety in your firm.

? Display Your Safety Message
Visibility is key in developing a culture. Publicising your values tells your staff that you will be serious about, and focused on, your safety culture.

? Recognize and Encourage Positive Action
Ways of achieving this include creating a periodic Safety Worker award, publicizing positive safety actions across the firm or even the, or implementing smaller, less formal means to highlight within the organisation steps taken by individuals.

? Communicate Effectively
Finally, it is not enough for an organisation's management to communicate its values and ideas; effective communication should be a two-way event. To ensure a strong safety culture, an organisation must pay attention to its staff, and create the channels for effective two-way communication. Safety requires the input of all workers, and a safety culture must explicitly embrace and include all members of the organisation.

The Role of Safety Management Systems

Safety Management Systems are, deservedly, rising in popularity, as organisations notice that safety in the workplace isn't only a compliance issue, but additionally a matter of effective risk management.

When married with positive safety-based values, effective communication and progressive actions, an SMS is an essential safety tool, fundamental for measuring safety, and assessing the organisation's improvement. It enables staff members to quickly and easily communicate policies and actions, also to implement and achieve safety goals. Moreover, an easy system will highlight safety hazards and risks, facilitating precautionary measures, and supporting risk management.

Furthermore, the implementation of an SMS is really a concrete means for an organisation to show both its investment in, and commitment to, a confident, strong safety culture.