Safety Is an Attitude

Accidents are less frequent when employees buy into your company’s goals and support its values

Former GE Chairman and CEO Jack Welch once told Business Week that employee opinions about their workplace were leading indicators of actual safety performance. Research by Towers Perrin-ISR, an international employee-research consultancy, confirms that the most important aspects to improving safety are supervision, employee empowerment, teamwork and workload.

As a small business owner, you can begin to evaluate employee engagement by learning whether your people believe in your goals and support company values; if they are proud to be part of the organization; if they exert the maximum effort in their work; and if they intend to stay through good and bad times. Success begins when each dimension is present to some degree.

The ISR study also found that employees are more engaged when companies offer them career development, leadership, empowerment and a positive image. The key to achieving all four begins with improving employer-employee relationships.

Report card

A strong safety program begins at the top, and it’s easy to grade your leadership level. According to ISR global research director Patrick Kulesa, employees engage more willingly when companies maintain high ethical standards, make their core values clear, and practice those values. “First-rate companies treat their employees with respect and seek their opinions,” Kulesa says. “Likewise, employees respect management, and feel confident that they can express opposing views without ridicule or repercussion.”

Clear, consistent leadership and two-way communication help develop high levels of engagement when combined with a robust strategy that galvanizes employees. In the process, the research indicates, you may also reduce work accidents.

The ISR study found that giving workers sufficient authority to do their jobs well, creating teamwork, and giving manageable workloads kept employees active in safety programs. “Employees rating workloads as heavy reported more accident-related interruptions, but the workload effect was cut by a third for employees who reported high levels of teamwork,” says Kulesa. “That group experienced fewer accidents, too.”

You can improve safety by enhancing your company’s operating efficiency, work culture, and training practices, but you’ll never know how successful these attempts are until you take yearly anonymous surveys. When your employees feel completely safe to speak their minds, their replies will be a revealing look at their level of engagement and how well you communicate your safety objectives.

Perceptions count

The study also found that employees working in companies recognized for safety excellence replied more favorably when asked if their area was a safe place to work, whether the physical working conditions were satisfactory, whether the company provided adequate safety training, and whether employees received enough training to improve their skills. This group also reported fewer documented work-related injuries.

One way to increase your company’s positive image is to join the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Accepted businesses must demonstrate an organizationwide commitment to health and safety, agreeing to meet requirements much more stringent than OSHA regulations. In return, companies gain a degree of exemption from random OSHA inspections and earn special recognition for their commitment to safety.

According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, companies in the VPP average 54 percent fewer injuries and illnesses and 60 to 80 percent lower lost-workday rates than companies that don’t participate. The VPP Participants’ Assoc-iation estimates that these businesses have saved more than $1 billion since 1982. Find out more at www.osha.gov/dcsp/vpp.



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