Looking to advance your organization’s safety program in 2023? One of the most effective ways is to create meaningful employee engagement in your safety initiatives. This involves transforming employee participation beyond compliance and procedural adherence to employee ownership for their safety and creating a safe workplace. Keep in mind it all starts with senior leadership making a commitment to safety and demonstrating their commitment through action and engagement.
In this article, you’ll learn practical tips for enhancing employee buy-in, how to extend engagement into safety, and the surprising role of employee wellness initiatives.
Gallup recently reported that only 32% of workers considered themselves engaged in their work and 17% considered themselves “actively disengaged.” Complacency or distractions are often cited as a cause of workplace incidents.
If you want employees to be focused and safe—and not distracted by repetitive or routine work—it may help to engage them with the following:
Encouraging employee well-being with programs and resources to help them live healthier reinforces your concern for their welfare and deepens engagement. It is becoming more widely acknowledged that employee health should not rest solely with human resources departments, but should also be part of your risk control strategy.
Want to put this into action? PMA Risk Control’s Employee Wellness Model provides an essential layer of prevention not found in traditional service approaches. Reach out to your PMA Risk Control Consultant or check out this article to learn more.
Engaged employees more readily embrace your safety initiatives. Lay the foundation of engagement in your organization and then apply those principles to your safety program. Hazard assessments, controls, and safety policies and procedures are important, however, without a high level of participation in your safety program, it will never be as successful as it could be.
How does your organization measure up in safety engagement?
Senior leadership and management need to be your safety champions. Employees should see leadership involved in safety with visible roles in your program’s success.
At the same time, front-line supervisors are key to a successful program. They need to be engaged and relentlessly promoting safety among their staffs. They are the direct line of communication
with your labor force and should convey safety messages from senior levels. Equally important, when employees give feedback on safety matters, the front-line needs to make sure that information is
conveyed to the appropriate parties.
Employees need to take an active role in your safety program. Let them know it is their program and that you look to them to make the program successful. Creating a culture where employees embrace
your safety initiatives for the sake of themselves, their co-workers and your organization is the ideal model.
For more information, check out PMA Websource®, our portal for PMA clients with a wealth of practical, actionable risk control information.
Or reach out to your PMA Risk Control Consultant or contact us at heretohelp@pmagroup.com.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The information and suggestions presented by PMA Companies in this risk control technical bulletin are for your consideration in your loss prevention efforts. They are not intended to be complete or definitive in identifying all hazards associated with your business, preventing workplace accidents, or complying with any safety related or other laws or regulations. You are encouraged to alter the information and suggestions to fit the specific hazards of your business and to have your legal counsel review all of your plans and company policies. PMA Companies and Old Republic Companies do not provide legal advice and the information and suggestions in this bulletin should not be considered as such.