Employees, including supervisors and managers, in the workplace that are trained and teach others, workplace safety are invaluable in today’s “high risk” industry’s. Due to the change in workforce demographics- the educated staffers are looking at retirement which is forcing the changing of the guards. Generationally, experience is walking out the doors of workplaces across the nation. To add to the dilemma, it’s getting tougher to hire and retain trained workers. Nevertheless, no excuse justifies putting any worker at risk of injury in the workplace. “Safety First”
Companies face their own challenges to keep up production, while maintaining a safe work environment. It is easy to cut corners when you’re under the gun… feeling pressure to meet the numbers, get the load done… Safety must be prioritized first over production. If your work force is injured, well…then you aren’t getting anything done. Not to mention, you run the risk of drastically increasing your insurance cost or losing your insurance coverage if you have too many injuries.
Although management is responsible for training employees to perform their job exercising the utmost safety, but it ultimately is up to the employee to take responsibility for their personal safety, putting “safety first.”
Management is responsible for job training and delivering the message, that safety is to be as important as is production. Workers should know that no job is so important that it should be done at the risk of injury. There is no excuse for taking short cuts or rushing a project or task that can lead to an unsafe, hazardous situation. Everyone within the organization must take responsibility for embracing safety first for every work activity.
OSHA Guidelines:
Management should demonstrate their “safety first” commitment by clearly communicating established policies for workplace safety to all workers.
Management should provide competent safety support to supervisors and line leaders.
Managers should delegate the authority necessary for employees to carry out assigned safety responsibilities effectively.
Provide proper safety training for employees
Have clear and set process for injury reporting to better evaluate any safety compliance gaps.
Mediocre involvement in a safety program is inexcusable for any company. No company can be truly successful, if we do not take care and educate our employees.