When employees have a say in a decision being made in their place of work, or are able to vote towards an outcome, they develop a vested interest in it, and this applies to other types of situations, too.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why many employers try hard to engage employees in workplace safety initiatives, and the safety culture of their company overall. If workers are actively involved in the safety initiatives and culture of their company, they’re far more likely to promote workplace safety, both for themselves and those they work with. From ensuring everyone is wearing the right PPE, such as a high vis vest, to checking for potential hazards in the workplace, a proactive and involved employee can help a company achieve its safety goals, improve workplace safety, and limit the number of injuries and accidents that occur.
One effective way of getting your employees more involved in workplace safety, is by assembling a safety committee.
What is a safety committee?
Connecting workers directly to the safety culture of the company, a safety committee brings employees, managers and supervisors of an organization together to discuss concerns and solutions related to workplace safety.
Giving everyone involved the chance to share their perspectives on workplace safety and hazards, safety committees also give management key insights, and help company’s achieve their safety goals as a united force.
How to build a successful safety committee
Ideally, a safety committee should be comprised of people working for an organization at different levels – from workers on the front line, to higher management – all of whom are united in their desire to define clear safety goals, set up a series of safe working habits, and limit the occurrence of safety incidents and hazards. This ensures that the committee gains valuable insights about how roles and duties function, from the perspective of those fulfilling them. These insights can then be used to design strategic solutions for safety blind spots or any issues that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Meetings, who attends them and when, should be consistent, and roles and an agenda should be established from the outset. Notes must be taken and tracked to ensure goals are being followed up on and met, and everyone present must be encouraged to talk openly about the topic of safety in general.
Where necessary or desired, educational workshops should be provided to help develop strong committee leaders who can help implement and enforce best practices for safety.
Ultimately, having a safety committee in place is just as important as issuing all employees with hi vis pants and other PPE, as it helps ensure that those most at risk of injuries and accidents in the workplace – frontline workers – are better protected while at work. Investing in a safety committee doesn’t just help protect front line workers, however, it also places trust in certain members of the workforce; giving them the opportunity to be their coworkers advocate. Additionally, and just as importantly, it provides organizations with a loyal workforce who are committed to upholding a culture of safety in the workplace, because they feel valued and cared about.
