There is no issue more black and white than workplace safety. Get it right and people survive – it’s that simple.
Gary Deverall, CEO of mechanical services contractor James L Williams, provides his top 10 tips for maintaining safety in the workplace.
Statistics show that on average, two to three people are killed on the job in Australia each week. This figure is close to double that of the UK.
It’s a sobering reminder of the need to implement a safety strategy in every workplace. It’s a culture changing experience that is worth the effort.
Is it a coincidence that our safest work sites are also our best managed? No, because it employs the same mindset.
Ensure your safety strategy includes the whole team, that it’s not just you. Have a succession plan for safety – it encourages ownership.
Remember if you don’t act, you won’t change a thing.
During the 2010/11 financial year, there were 138 work-related fatalities. The most common cause of a fatality was being hit by falling objects, followed by vehicle incidents, falls from heights and contact with electricity.
Following are some simple steps that can be taken to promote safety in the workplace and prevent fatalities.
Firstly, it is important to be a leader. Safety is not someone else’s job, it’s yours, it’s ours, it’s mine.
It’s the joint commitment between all of us that means safety standards will be maintained.
By becoming a leader, not only within your company but within the industry as a whole, it will inspire others to follow suit to meet the benchmarks set by you.
Secondly, be passionate.
To be passionate means to be compelled by intense emotion and strong feelings.
Imagine channelling this kind of passion towards achieving the best safety outcomes in your workplace. The results will speak for themselves.
Next, become a believer. An organisation can have the best safety system in the world but it’s important to use it and believe in it. If you don’t believe in it, then it simply won’t work.
Just having a safety system isn’t enough; it requires your involvement and of course, you must believe in it for it to be credible.
It is important for senior executives to become the example. We get back the behaviour we exhibit and tolerate.
Staff will change their behaviour when they become aware of your commitment to safety. At the same time you will become more committed to safety after witnessing a culture change within your organisation, it is an eternal cycle.
Be loud and shout about safety to the world. Become an ambassador for safety and promote it whenever and wherever you can. Open up the lines of communication.
Make yourself visible on site and easily accessible when you are off-site. The easier it is for your employees to know how to get in touch with you the more likely they are to report a contentious issue or contact you if they need advice or support.
It is important to get personal. Deliver new or updated rules and procedures in person.
Employees will respect you and the updated rules more if they are delivered by a human in person, rather than through email, fax or memo. People respond to people.
Don’t forget to celebrate success. Personally congratulate the organisation’s safety champions.
These are your change agents to ratchet up momentum. By acknowledging someone’s favourable behaviour, it reinforces your safety messages.