For businesses, occupational health and safety should be a continuous project and a never-ending pursuit of perfection. It’s usually when companies get complacent with regard to safety that problems start to arise. The good news is that if companies make a commitment to safety, there is a lot that can be done to improve occupational health and safety for everyone at the company. If you’re not already doing these things, here are some simple measures that can be done to accomplish just that.
One of the best things a company can do to improve occupational health and safety is to be proactive when it comes to inspections. Don’t wait for there to be a workplace accident or an injury and make OSHA show up to do an inspection. Create a schedule for self-inspections and stick to it. Make an effort to find safety hazards that have been overlooked and can still be corrected before they cause a problem. Even if you don’t find any egregious errors, it’s important to do your due diligence when safety is involved.
It’s amazing how many workplace-related accidents are caused by poor communication. The silver lining is that a lot of these are preventable if companies improve their communication methods, specifically between workers and supervisors. For starters, any changes in safety protocol need to be conveyed to employees in an efficient manner. Meanwhile, it’s equally important that workers feel comfortable coming forward with hazards they’ve noticed or suggestions that could improve workplace safety. Are there regular meetings where employees can raise concerns? Is there a way for employees to report issues without fear of repercussions for themselves or their co-workers? Having these open methods of communication can make all of the difference when it comes to improving safety.
Officially, OSHA requires records whenever an employee becomes sick or injured on the job. But it’s also important for businesses to keep their own occupational health and safety records, especially if it means going into greater detail than OSHA requires. Even if it didn’t result in an injury, any accident or close call in the workplace should be documented. The more information you have, the better you can identify hazards that can be mitigated to create a safer work environment.
Training should never be considered a one-time occurrence. It shouldn’t even be a yearly occurrence. The more you schedule safety meetings or training sessions, the more you’ll improve occupational health and safety. It’s best to schedule frequent training sessions or hold meetings to serve as refresher courses. The longer workers go without training or safety meetings, the more complacent they get. Needless to say, you want to avoid this as much as possible. If you can keep safety protocols and best practices at the top of everyone’s mind, the safer everyone will be while at work.
Just like a company has production and financial goals, it should also have occupational health and safety goals. Manufacturing businesses should be encouraged to set safety objectives and then hold themselves accountable when it comes to meeting them. It also doesn’t hurt to have a reward system in place so that employees are motivated to help the company reach its safety goals. This way, everybody wins and everybody stays safe.
The biggest step you can take to improve occupational health and safety is to implement a safety management system. At EHS Insight, our safety solutions can assist with everything mentioned above, from employee communication to self-inspections to safety meetings to training sessions. It connects everything that’s safety-related and keeps it connected to it’s easier to manage.
If you’re looking for a little help in improving workplace safety, get in touch and we’ll be your partner in creating a safer work environment.