4 Tips Taken from the Safest Companies in America

To some organizations in America, safety is not just a concept but a way of life. If you are looking to step into 2017 with the resolution of bolstering your company’s safety approaches, look no further than taking a few key tips derived from some of the safest companies in America. Here is how you can improve safety in your workplace:

1)  Comprehensive Training Programs- Companies such as the American Bridge Company believe in the importance of these training modules. Comprehensive safety training programs are a fantastic tool and resource in helping employees become more situationally aware and as a result, decrease the likelihood of accidents.

Furthermore these comprehensive regimes are a great starting point for employees and personnel to stay up to date on new approaches and theories that emerge and outdate legacy safe practices which have since been proven to be ineffective compared to currently trending theories and methodologies. Comprehensive training reinforces the principle that it is essential for safety to be ingrained in the fabric of the workplace.

2) Share Responsibility – According to EHS, some of the safest companies in America all abide by a shared responsibility model that focuses on demonstrated support from management and employee involvement. These same organizations were proud to report that injury and illness rates were significantly lower than the mean for their industries. In a shared responsibility model, the organization operates as a team across the board in lieu of a traditional top-to-bottom structure. As a result cohesion is bolstered and each member of the organization contributes innovative ways to improve safety.

3) Go Above Regulatory Compliance - On a local, federal or organizational level, these narratives are re-enforced and applied on a daily basis. Learning these prescribed directives can serve as a great benchmark for improving workplace safety. Two of the presiding agencies for workplace safety are OSHA and NIOSH. Employers and staff should strive to achieve and exceed the minimum requirements of OSHA’s practices toward safety as it should be considered a priority, not a rudiment. Doing so will undoubtedly change the attitude of the workplace toward safety as a whole.

4) Integrate Safety Into Corporate Culture– Leadership has the greatest responsibility in steering the charge toward improvement in the safety culture of any place. Management and administrators can establish continuity if they continuously promote improvement toward the safety manifesto. This begins with a corporate culture focused on safety. This can be translated into the amendment or implementation of standard operating procedures or best workplace practices. Continuous improvement is an attitude that empowers employers to modify existing safety measures which in turn results in identifying and implementing better and safer ways to complete the same task. As a result, efficiency and productivity will increase while reducing accidents. A corporate culture focused on integrating safety into the workplace strives to establish accountability and does so with full transparency.

About the Author:

Tom Reddon is a forklift specialist and blog manager for the National Forklift Exchange. He also sits on the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) Executive Dialogue team. Follow him on Twitter at @TomReddon.