According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), more than five thousand people died on the job in 2019. That’s more than fourteen people every day. 

Worker deaths are a serious thing and should be prevented at all costs. The purpose of having a workplace safety culture is to look beyond specific safety programs and policies. The goal is to capture the behaviors and mindsets towards the safety of all of the company owners, managers, and employees. 

Are you looking to boost team morale and make sure that you’re establishing a safe and organized work environment? If you are, then keep on reading and we’ll walk you through everything that you’ll want to know about building and promoting a workplace safety culture.

Characteristics of Positive Workplace Safety Culture 

It’s usually easier to recognize an organization that has a negative safety culture rather than one that has a positive culture. This is because a lack of a safety culture usually means that safety initiatives are not bought into by employees. This usually leads to higher rates of accidents and injuries within the work environment. 

While it might seem intimidating to build a positive safety environment, the benefits after the investment has been made will become evident throughout the company. 

A company that has a good safety culture will likely experience:

• Decreased rates of accident or injuries
• Lower turn over
• High employee engagement
• Increased employee productivity

But what does a positive safety culture look like? Organizations with a strong safety culture tend to have employees that feel empowered to take action. They also feel responsible for the safety of themselves and their coworkers. 

Now, let’s go over several ways that you can build and promote workplace safety culture at your place of work.

1. Define Responsibilities

In order to establish an effective safety culture, you first need to define the responsibilities within your company. This can be done at all levels of the company and includes goals and policies.

2. Create an Organizational Vision for Safety

It’s important that everyone in the organization is on the same page when it comes to the company’s vision for safety. It won’t be possible for you to reach your safety goal if all of the company’s stakeholders aren’t working towards the same goal.

3. Come Up with a System for Open Communication

Organizations that have a strong workplace safety culture need to invest in making lines of open communication within the company. You also need to make sure that workers are updated on new safety protocols in order to make sure that the procedures and policies can be implemented successfully.

One great way to share new information is with monthly talks about understanding health and safety. You want to allow for employees to openly communicate with regards to safety within the workplace.

4. Involve Employees at All Levels

Making a workplace safety culture starts from the ground up. It’s important that workers of all levels are included in the planning and implementation phase of any new safety procedures. 

You can make your employees feel more involved by asking for their opinions during the initial planning phases. You can also prevent possible pitfalls later down the road during implementation.

5. Rebuild Reporting System

Your reporting system will need to focus on the positive. Your employees should feel free to share their safety concerns without any repercussions. When you reward workers who share their safety concerns, you’ll be able to rebuild your system and encourage other workers to report their concerns as well.

6. Implement Hands-On Training

When you’re building and promoting a workplace safety culture within an organization, it’s important to utilize proper training. Sharing best practices and developing opportunities for workers to have hands-on learning sessions will help your workers retain and successfully implement new safety procedures. 

Also, when you invest in quality training, you’ll be showing your workers that you care about their safety. You’ll also increase team member support and buy-in.

7. Management Modeling

If you want your safety initiatives to be successful, then you need to make sure that the model is from the top down. This means that managers need to make a commitment to employing a safety-first work style. They should always be demonstrating safety is important and valued.

8. Hold Employees Accountable

Companies that fully embody a strong workplace safety culture will know that safety is of the utmost importance. Every worker will feel responsible for their own safety as well as the safety of their coworkers. 

A big part of this feeling is holding your workers accountable. The more that an employee feels accountable for safety initiatives, the more likely they’re going to take action to improve the safety around them.

9. Celebrate Success

Keeping your team members updated about company progress is necessary for driving safety initiatives. Recognizing departments, individuals, and the company as a whole for its improvements can be a useful way to boost team morale. 

The Importance of Knowing How to Build and Promote Workplace Safety Culture

Hopefully, after reading the above article, you now have a better idea of how to build and promote workplace safety culture. As we can see, there are a lot of benefits to establishing a good workplace safety culture. And it will be much easier to accomplish this if you make everyone feel involved and responsible for the safety of others.

Are you looking for more helpful articles? Make sure to check out the rest of our site today for more!