6 tips to boost safety performance in 2019

As you focus on increasing your revenue in 2019, keep your employees safe and healthy and improve the overall performance levels of your business.

1. Safety leadership
Does your company focus on safety management or safety leadership? Workplace safety should start at the top of any organisation. Incorporate safety into the organisational structure of your business from the boardroom down to the factory floor so it is part of the company culture and intrinsic value; and not a separate function.

2. Staff training

Educating your workforce about the importance of safety and any safety concerns helps to protect them and to establish and maintain a safe workplace by increasing their knowledge and awareness of safety issues. No matter how skilled or experienced an employee is in a particular area they should undergo thorough training for all aspects of the job. Safety shouldn’t be left to common sense or chance. Ongoing training will also help create and maintain a culture of safety.

3. Employee engagement

Employee engagement is a key factor in integrating safety into the day-to-day business operations. 
Everyone from the MD or CEO down is an employee and you will increase your success in safety, and business, if you engage all employees in the safety management process through frequent communication in incident investigations and asking for feedback.

4. Focus on wellness and health of your employees

Healthy employees are the most productive, and the working environment is directly linked to job satisfaction. As an employer your duty doesn’t just end with health and safety compliance. Investing in the overall health and wellness of your employees (which impacts on job performance) is key to a safer workplace with less accidents. The home work life balance for your employees could be improved by the introduction of flexible working. A range of initiatives such as offering free fruit or organising office yoga and free health check-ups are ways in which you can improve the health of your employees.

5. Get the most from your supervisors and managers
It’s vital that supervisors and managers lead by example when it comes to safety since these are the people who interact with the rest of your employees on a daily basis. No matter how many times employees are told not to do something if they see a manager carrying armfuls of boxes down a staircase without holding onto a handrail the chances are they are going to do as they see.
Encourage managers to routinely hold safety discussions with employees, and to launch an accident investigation as early as possible.

6. Be safetySmart

Technology is now available to improve workplace safety and can play an important role in reducing injuries and fatalities. Software technology can help employees be more aware of their workplace surroundings and the dangers they encounter. The software generates lifelike images using two angles of a recorded image so that any workplace site and environment can be recreated, showing employees potential dangers. Journey management software is another tool employers can use to improve the safety of employees working remotely as this communicates when employees have not checked in at scheduled times. Smart devices can help schedule maintenance of machines in factories and equipment such as escalators.