Safety First - Five Reasons to Hold a Routine Safety Meeting

Workplace safety is important to all businesses for ethical, legal and financial reasons. Keeping employees safe from injury is the right thing to do, it also keeps a business away from civil litigation and can lower costly compensation claims.

Many larger companies are establishing full-time safety coordinators whose job is solely devoted to safety issues. Smaller companies can assign competent people to dedicate a small portion of time instilling good safety habits in employees.

Here are five good reasons to hold a short monthly safety meeting with a well-defined agenda.

1) Commitment - For workers to take safety issues seriously, the business must take it seriously first. Change flows from the top. Holding a routine meeting to highlight safety policies and concerns will demonstrate the company's commitment to minimizing hazardous unsafe behavior.

2) Awareness? Employees can't obey policies they don't know about. Tackling issues in public with handouts and short tests will enhance workplace knowledge on what is safe and unsafe activity. Many accidents happen because someone is just not paying attention. Elevating employee awareness is the first step to prevention.

3) Teamwork ? Cooperation is the key to success. By teaching safety and offering incentives for safe track records, and discipline for unsafe practices, employees will work together to create a safe environment. A corporate culture of safety-mindedness will develop and become second nature. For example, in a retail office environment, when employees take unnecessary risks, others will gently remind them to close unattended file drawers, get a ladder instead of standing on a chair, ask for help when lifting something heavy etc.

4) Training ? Do your employees know what to do in case of emergency? If there's a fire, do they know how to evacuate and where to meet? Are there people assigned to make sure all persons are accounted for after an evacuation? Does everyone understand the procedure when an injury occurs? Training will bring about confident employees who are prepared should an emergency arise.

5) Savings ? A safe workplace is a cost effective work place. When office workers are typing properly, repetitive motion claims are reduced. When box clerks are lifting properly, back injuries are less likely. Efforts at producing a safer workplace will pay off in spades with lower workmen's comp insurance premiums, reduced liability exposure, greater productivity and the expense of hiring new or temporary employees to replace injured ones.

"Safety First": we've all heard it; you can show your employees that you mean it. Invest in their safety by developing safety policies and teaching them what is expected.

Rick David writes for a Merchant Newsletter @ Merchant America. He also writes a humor column called, "Don't Laugh It Could Happen To You" for http://sandiego.merchantamerica.com.

---

Motivation - The Benefits of Spending Time with Your Team

Benefit 1 - You get to understand them betterAlmost everyone... Read More

Book Summary: The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player

A follow-up companion reader to The 17 Indisputable Laws of... Read More

You, Your Team, and Your Coach

The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers,... Read More

You are Excused from Training

Trainers, please picture this... You are presenting in a new... Read More

Team Development in the Little Leagues

A grassy field, two nets, a soccer ball and some... Read More

How to be Healthier and Happier In Your Organisation

Did you know your work environment can actually make you... Read More

Functioning in a Dysfunctional Workplace

Sometimes the greatest challenges lay not within the actions of... Read More

Leadership, Genuine, Meaningful and Productive

One of the best lessons I have learned is the... Read More

Effective Team Building Part 1 - Another Brick in the Wall!

The first in a series of articles giving a slightly... Read More

Nine Ways to Contribute to Project Team Success

The world of work has changed. It used to be... Read More

In 2005 Collaboration is Key

Perhaps you're a small business owner wondering how you and... Read More

Safety First - Five Reasons to Hold a Routine Safety Meeting

Workplace safety is important to all businesses for ethical, legal... Read More

Effective Team Building For Organizational Success

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common... Read More

Franchisor Award Programs; Ideas and Innovation

Franchisors should also be heavy on the award side of... Read More

Intercultural Team Building

Internal business structures have been radically transformed over the past... Read More

4 Tips for Keeping a Team Motivated

Companies often have incentives for reps, but sometimes that isn't... Read More

Teaming - How to Build a Team

Team building takes work but the results are worth it.... Read More

Motivate People with Feedback

Someone once said - "Feedback is the breakfast of champions."... Read More

Whats Your REAL problem??

When was the last time you spent excessive time and... Read More

Cross-Cultural Communication: Grin and Jump In!

Multiculturalism is a reality in North America and for those... Read More

Team Work - A Challenge of Character

Over the years there has been much ado about team... Read More

What?s Wrong With You, Why Don?t You Understand Me?

Recently while waiting for our lunch to be served in... Read More

Leading the Witness: How Asking Questions as a Trainer Can Limit Learning and Reduce Trust

"Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling... Read More

How Does Personal Development Help in Business?

Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each... Read More

Finding The Leader Within (Keys To Zen Leadership)

Most believe that leadership is an innate quality that some... Read More

How to Boost Morale In Your Organisation

Who keeps the wheels turning in your organisation? Who holds... Read More

Outdoor Team Development ? Harmless Fun or Serious Learning?

The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More

Team Development and Learning

A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More

Presenteeism - present in body absent in productivity

Presenteeism is alive and 'not well' in many businesses today.... Read More

Go On, Be A Tiger

From the moment he putted with Bob Hope on the... Read More

Empower Your Trainees

One of the most memorable quotes that I heard from... Read More

The 5 Bes of Motivation

It's not true in every organization, but it is true... Read More

Grow Your Staff into a Team of Creative Problem Solvers

As a manager, your employees will come to you with... Read More