Every HR department hears and repeats the statistics on job accidents and injuries that cost American employers millions of dollars each year. But do your organization’s employees recognize the burden these accidents and injuries put on them, either from direct injuries or from the trickledown effect of others’ injuries? Getting employees to take greater responsibility for their own safety shouldn’t be difficult, but if you’re always emphasizing the benefits to you as employer rather than the rewards to the employees, you may be working against your own best interests. Reflect the glory and the rewards back on your employees, and you’ve empowered them to make safety number one.
Make Training Mandatory (and Fun)
It’s easy to fall into the trap of offering only the bare minimum of safety training for your employees. It’s not so easy to pay the higher workers’ compensation premiums that often result. Make safety training an ongoing process in your organization, and engage employees in training by rewarding them during training sessions. Provide snacks or small prizes for those who pass quizzes on what they’ve learned, and above all, emphasize that the training is for t heir benefit.
Reward Safety
All employers like to say they’re all about safety, but there are times when many employees are tempted to cut corners when no obvious hazards or potential harm seemed to exist. Change the attitudes about safety from the ground up by rewarding employees who report and/or remediate safety hazards. Knowing that their efforts to keep their workplace safe will be met with rewards instead of grumbling, or worse, no response at all, empowers employees to take ownership of high standards for safety.
Recognize Achievements — and Accidents
While many organizations have some kind of token recognition for days without reported safety incidents, these efforts are just background noise unless the employees get the glory. Reward every employee for these achievements, even if it’s only a candy bar or some small token of appreciation. And when something inevitably happens to mar that winning streak, recognize that, too. While your legal team may say the less said the better, ignoring on the job accidents makes employees wonder whether anyone cares. Work with your legal counsel to craft a strategy for addressing accidents and injuries to employees.
Finding it difficult to fit ongoing training into your tight schedule? Free up some valuable time by letting Staffing Partners’ Portland recruiting experts handle hiring. We’re ready to provide your organization with the best temporary and temp-to-hire employees in their fields. Call us today and take a load off!
