5 Ways to Promote a Culture of Safety at Your Company

Most trends come and go, but some have staying power. As more companies find that strong safety performance drives overall business performance, safety is finally getting its due recognition as a trend that’s here to stay.

Many companies have transformed the way they perceive safety. Sometimes it’s a business necessity; other times, it’s initiated by an individual or group who has seen how a focus on safety can positively impact employee wellness and company culture. The most successful businesses have safety as a core value, and safety managers and leaders are viewed as integral partners.

5 Best Practices to Boost Your Safety Culture

Best-in-class safety performance requires buy-in at every level, and that means integrating safety into every facet of the business. When responsibility for safety is shared at all levels of an organization, the organization—not a single department or person—becomes accountable for performance.

Recognition and accountability, leadership commitment, training, communication, observations and audits, and clear roles and responsibilities all play a part in building a strong safety culture. These five key best practices can guide companies and safety managers looking to change the way their employees view safety:

Make Safety a Priority

Safety is a predictor of how other parts of a business perform because the attitudes, mindsets and behaviors required to manage safety effectively also are needed to effectively manage quality and productivity. So, if you aren’t managing safety, you may not be managing other parts of the company optimally, either.

Safety not only helps the bottom line, but also boosts competitive advantages. In parts of the country with low unemployment, hiring quality employees can be a challenge, and having a strong safety culture is a major selling point—both for job recruitment and employee retention. People want to work in a safe, clean environment and know that they will go home to their families at the end of the workday in the same condition in which they came to work.

Getting your employees engaged in and taking pride in their work, as well as proving that leadership supports them, will boost employee retention and make your business an employer of choice, meaning safety makes good business sense.