Staying focused on safety is a concern for everyone.
To stay focused, a safety program has to include behavioral changes. Although altering habits is generally an uphill battle, it can be done. During safety program training, participants may enthusiastically agree that safety is important and commit to ensuring that the program stays focused. But as they slip back into their day-to-day routines, they may revert to form and find that the importance of safety begins to fade. That’s when it’s time to refocus on the safety track.
-Schedule frequent short courses and site visits example: Let people know you are watching. When they begin to see the safety program as an active policy, rather than a passive practice that is only in effect for as long as the safety training lasts, they will start to change behaviors.
-Plan frequent safety program reviews and site visits.
-At the beginning of the next safety training or site visit, ask participants what they remember about the last safety training topic, or visit and then the one before that.
-Post and review all your positive safety findings, for example, fall protection safety is a concern on a construction sites, we here about people not tied off while working in heights and falling all the time.
-When you see the employees taking the time to work safely intervene and thank them.
-Find a safe clip from YouTube and send it around or use it on the next safety meeting. People may watch it, but even if they don’t the subject header will remind them to refocus on the safety training they received the previous months.
-Involve employees in planning and monitoring safety programs. A sense of ownership in the process — and knowing their opinions count — will encourage them to stay focused on safety issues.
