Most employers are proactive about health and safety and feel proud about being able to help employees stay safe. We know this, because most employers are willing to take the time to train and orient new employees to tasks that may be hazardous.
For example, a new employee may feel uncomfortable driving busy streets with a large tractor trailer unit. An employer with high safety standards will ensure the new employee is adequately prepared with training and experience before they are expected to drive on busy streets.
Keeping employees safe is never accomplished by only the safety professional on site. It must be done with the company working as a team. In order for the company to work together, they must be willing to have discussions about health and safety. By doing so, they are able to tackle challenges that employees would face in regards to their safety.
Each employer must find ways to keep discussions about health and safety productive and beneficial to everyone. There are a number of ways to do so, such as incorporating safety topics into meetings. But what about staff members who are not participating in meetings?
Another way employers could encourage health and safety discussions is by challenging staff members to spot hazards they see. This could be easily done by posting a photo full of hazards and challenging staff to identify the hazards they see.
If staff members are encouraged to identify hazards, there is a good possibility they will discuss hazards with one another. The benefit of this is that staff members will slowly increase their ability to recognize hazards in both the workplace as well as in their personal life.
WorkSafeBC has several photos full of hazards which employers could use to challenge staff. The multimedia section of their webpage features “What’s wrong with this photo” , a monthly photo in which employers can spot hazards. Just simply click on past challenges and you will see several pictures and even be able to print them for your use.
Be sure to keep health and safety discussions productive and informative for everyone. It will benefit every employee working for your company and ensure employees go home safe.
reprinted from November 2014
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