Top 10 Tips for Improving Safety Culture in The Workplace

Achieving a positive safety culture can significantly improve company risk management, leading to fewer accidents, increased productivity, and an improved work environment.

Keep reading for WA Management’s top tips in improving the safety culture in your workplace.

1. Implement a comprehensive Health and Safety Policy

A Health and Safety Policy is the foundation of a positive safety culture – it should set out relevant health and safety procedures, management and employee responsibilities, and be easily accessible, so everyone understands their role in keeping the workplace safe.

WA Management can provide a bespoke and comprehensive Health and Safety Policy that is continuously updated to reflect legislation changes and best practice and is reissued annually.

2. Provide regular Health and Safety training

To ensure all members of your team know how to act safely in the workplace, health and safety training should be regularly conducted. Depending on the nature of your work, this could range from bespoke in-person training to some online training courses.

Training should be an ongoing practice, and should be regularly refreshed to ensure workers have the most up to date knowledge.

3. Simplify your reporting process

Reporting near-misses or hazards in the workplace is a lot easier if your reporting system is simple and easy to use. A time-consuming or complicated process may put people off from reporting, as it may be too difficult or they simply do not have the time.

4. Understand the role of mental health

Good mental health is just as important as good physical health in preventing accidents at work – being in the wrong headspace an lead to distraction, underperformance, and ultimately accidents.

Companies should ensure they are providing proper support for their employees, including mental health initiatives, access to mental health resources, and encouraging a healthy work-life balance.

5. Encourage good communication

Encourage and reward open communication in your team – employees should feel comfortable enough to raise any safety concerns with their manager, and there should be a clear reporting and investigating process.

Involve your employees in building your company’s safety culture by seeking their input, feedback and suggestions for improvement. This can help to foster a sense of accountability and ownership.

6. Provide adequate safety resources and equipment

If your employees are not properly protected, it will be impossible to attain a positive safety culture in your workplace. Ensure your staff have all of the tools needed to stay safe, including personal protective equipment, first aid kits, and safety assistance tools.

7. Talk the talk, walk the walk

Show your team you take health and safety seriously by following workplace safety procedures, modelling safe behaviours and acting upon information received from employees.

8. Conduct regular risk assessments

Risk assessments should be conducted regularly to identify hazards and appropriate control measures. The results of these should be shared with your team, and hazards should be mitigated in a timely manner.

9. Take proactive steps

Keep an eye on your team and be proactive if you notice something amiss – listen out for complaints of injuries or near misses, and investigate. Don’t wait for accidents to happen, instead try and get ahead of them and prevent them from occurring.

10. Create a positive workplace

A generally positive work environment is more likely to also have a positive safety culture in place. Workplaces that have good teamwork and communication make employees feel more supported, which in turn increased their investment in the safety of themselves and their team.

Code of Conduct and Communication Skills training courses are essential tools in improving health and safety culture in the workplace. Make sure you don’t miss out on our 10% off deal on these courses, available until the end of April. Simply enter the code ‘management10’ at checkout to save!