Employees operate the equipment, use the tools, and do the tasks that expose them to hazards, so it makes sense to involve them in the day-to-day effort to keep the workplace safe. In fact, you can’t establish a strong safety foundation without employee involvement.
A safety committee is one of the best ways to involve employees. It’s the perfect setting for getting together and working out safety and health concerns. Employees can volunteer for the committee or be elected by their peers. Employees should also have a way to report hazards or make safety suggestions. Their concerns should receive a prompt response, which shows that you value their input and are committed to a safe workplace. Other ways that employees can get involved:
Developing safety policy. Employees’ suggestions can help develop a new policy or improve an existing one.
Allocating safety resources. Employees’ suggestions and safety committee recommendations can help determine what resources are necessary to achieve safety goals.
Emphasizing safety training. Employees can recommend training topics and develop training plans, suggest who should do the training, train co-workers, and evaluate training sessions.
Identifying and controlling hazards. Employees and a management representative need to inspect the workplace frequently and document hazards; they must report new hazards to the person responsible for correcting them. Employees must maintain their equipment, keep work areas clean, and use personal protective equipment properly.
Evaluating the safety and health effort. Employees can help evaluate yearly trends in accidents and near misses, evaluate the effectiveness of emergency procedures, and review the past year’s strengths and weaknesses. Using evaluation results, employees can develop goals for achieving a safer workplace.
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