Safe Attitudes Make All the Difference

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Topic: Behavioural Safety 

Safe Attitudes Make All the Difference

When employees have a safe attitude, they have a genuine concern for their own safety and well-being as well as that of co-workers. They feel it is their responsibility to help maintain a safe work environment for all. Good for them, and good for you.

"Safety is our number 1 priority," say a lot of companies. But when the chips are down and production needs to be increased, safety may suddenly become number 2.

Having a good safety attitude means that both the company and employees have to make safety a core value. Values don't change every time priorities do. Values become part of the way you and your workers operate every day on the job.

They are part of your organization's:

1. Core
2. Culture
3. Policies
4. Actions

Time and again, award-winning health and safety programs prove to be those in which the employer places a high priority on worker safety, and employees readily participate in activities that advance safety objectives. In other words, everyone from the CEO to the newest, lowest level employee takes safety seriously and always makes it priority number 1.

To develop good safety attitudes among employees:

1. Encourage employees to think about safety 24/7, not only when they're at work.
2. Talk about safety all the time. It has to be something people are always discussing, thinking about, and improving.
3. Make sure employees work safely. This job falls largely to your supervisors, who have to have good safety attitudes, too. And you and your staff have to be checking up, monitoring performance, and being visible.
4. Motivate employee participation, suggestions, questions, and even complaints about unsafe conditions.
5. Set an example for your workers. If they see you and your safety staff wearing PPE, following rules, eliminating hazards, and investigating incidents, they'll follow your lead take safety seriously, too.
6. Provide positive feedback for safe performance and attitudes. People love to be recognized and praised for doing the right thing.
7. Correct reported safety hazards right away. Nothing says that you and management also have a good safety attitude more than demonstrating that you care and are looking out for your workers.