Safety and compliance are a must for any company, particularly those operating in high-risk industries. Fortunately, you can take steps to put safety first without breaking the bank. Follow these strategies to develop and implement a safety-first culture that keeps you in compliance for the long haul and helps you earn a reputation as a good employer.
Understanding the Importance of Workplace Safety Compliance
As a business owner, you’re responsible for keeping your employees safe in the workplace. By nature of construction work, your employees are exposed to more physical, biological, and chemical hazards than people in more sedentary environments.
When you stay in compliance with health and safety regulations, your employees are less prone to injury, which makes them more productive. You may also save money by paying lower premiums due to fewer accidents and workers' compensation claims, as well as avoiding paying fines for noncompliance.
5 Cost-Effective Strategies To Ensure Safety Compliance
These cost-effective strategies will help you stay in compliance with safety regulations.
1. Regularly Conduct Audits
Put your current safety protocols to the test by conducting regular audits to make sure everyone on your team is following the rules. Arm a manager with a checklist so they don’t miss any safety concerns.
Once you have developed your checklists, create an audit schedule and stick to it. You could conduct a full-scale audit once a year and have separate teams to audit various aspects of your business more often. For example, you may audit all policies, procedures, and job sites once a year while assigning a fire-prevention team to conduct quarterly inspections on job sites and your headquarters office for fire safety.
Following a regular safety audit schedule gives you detailed information about how your safety procedures are working and lets you identify potential safety gaps. Finding these issues early gives you a chance to fix them before they cause workplace accidents.
2. Identify Which Compliance Issues To Prioritize
When you’re juggling multiple responsibilities as a business owner, some tasks may fall through the cracks. However, ignoring safety and compliance concerns or pushing them aside for later focus puts you at risk. At best, you may have to pay fines for being out of compliance with regulations. At worst, one of your employees may be gravely injured on the job. An employee accident could put you at risk for a lawsuit and impact your mental health.
If you’re overwhelmed, start with the riskiest safety concerns that could have the biggest impact on your business.
Risk Assessment Techniques
You need to assess risks anytime you’re changing workflows or processes or introducing new hazards or equipment. Use a risk matrix or similar assessment tool to visualize the likelihood of a safety event against its potential impact. Plot all your safety issues on the grid based on how likely they are to occur versus how an incident would impact your company.
Focusing on High-Impact Areas
On your grid, you will see high-probability safety incidents with potentially disastrous results. Prioritize areas with the highest probability of occurrence that could impact your business the most. For example, many common construction injuries are the result of falls and mishandling of equipment. A fall could be fatal depending on the job site. In this case, preventing falls and training employees on how to use equipment would be a high priority.
3. Engage Employees in Safety Programs
Implementing safety programs gives your employees control over their well-being and makes them accountable for others on the site. Implementing safety programs can also boost morale and make employees more productive.
As part of your safety program, encourage open communication and feedback. When your employees feel comfortable reporting safety issues, you become aware of them faster and can work on fixing the problem. Your employees trust that you care about their safety and will address their concerns. Building a safety culture can also reduce labor shortages from injuries and lower turnover.
4. Leverage Technology for Compliance Management
New technologies can help keep your employees safer. There are apps that allow your team to manage checklists, share photos, and access site notes in real time as safety issues arise. You may also give your employees wearable devices that monitor vital signs and air quality or protect them from injuries.
5. Regularly Monitor and Report Compliance Concerns
Between safety audits, ask your site managers to monitor and report compliance issues. Keeping track of these issues regularly helps you identify and fix patterns that could jeopardize your compliance.
Use the data to modify your safety procedures to proactively address compliance issues before they cause problems. Run reports on key metrics to measure your progress over time.
Benefits of Outsourcing Safety Management
Consider outsourcing safety management. Independent contractors specializing in safety are objective. They are also familiar with recognized standards and offer a more thorough safety inspection than you could provide on your own. Outsourcing safety management also keeps you from singling out risky individuals.
A reliable and experienced provider can also help you refine your current protocols or develop new safety management systems that meet ever-changing regulations. You can make a return on your investment in a safety compliance expert by:
- Controlling compliance costs
- Improving your staff’s performance
- Reducing risk factors in the workplace
- Improving overall compliance
- Improving safety communication
How We Can Help You Achieve Your Safety Compliance Goals
Safety Pro Resources offers a full range of capabilities to guide your safety management system.
Safety Auditing
We audit all areas of your operations to identify potential risks and hazards. We also provide incident investigations to prevent them from happening in the future.
Safety Risk Management
We can manage risk assessments throughout your operations and develop strategies to mitigate them.
Safety Training
We can help you develop a safety training program or conduct training for you so that all your employees have consistent, accurate information.
Safety Programs
Keep employees informed at all times with a customized safety program that addresses your specific needs and safety goals.
Let Compliance Experts Help You Stay Ahead of the Game
SafetyPro Resources offers a team of experts with extensive industry experience in occupational safety and health. We draw from experience and familiarity with regulations to tailor our solutions to each client.
You don’t have to go through the safety management process alone. Let our compliance consultants help you stay ahead of the game and ensure a safe workplace for your employees.
