By David Crary
Almost all businesses have to address safety with employees and customers on a routine basis. Have you ever been on a flight where the attendants skipped the introduction of the safety precautions on board? How about the cruise ships that take everyone in and then immediately go through all the necessary instructions for safety after boarding? You are even fitted with your life preserver in the event you need it. A bit unsettling but necessary.
It really shouldn’t be any different for your green industry business. Our green industry employees can have injuries from falls from ladders, vehicle issues, pesticides, noise, West Nile virus, heat, and lightning just to name a few. As a small business owner, you need to commit to a culture of high safety standards. Healthy employees will make for a healthy business and help you control costs.
The following tips are ways that you can improve workplace safety.
- All employees must go through a training program. Make sure the training is both verbally and in writing. If you have employees whose primary language is not English, be sure to have the training in their language as well. At a minimum, the written documents need to be bilingual.
- Document every accident and learn from it. Create a simple form to fill out so that it becomes routine for the crew leader or service manager to address the situation. Use this document for facts when you conduct a post-accident review. It is one thing to write up the accident and file it away but it will be a much better work environment if the accident is shared (keeping confidentiality high for the impacted employees) so that all can learn from the issue.
- Have a written cellphone policy. Cellphones are a major distraction in vehicles, on equipment and simply on the job. When reading text messages and/or emails or talking on the phone, your employee is distracted and likely vulnerable for a safety infraction. Cellphone policies may be only on breaks, and in the event that 9-1-1 needs to be called. And, if you use mobile field service software, make sure your policy addresses when and how they are to enter and retrieve data. Whatever you decide, have it in writing and signed by all your employees.
- Take advantage of industry trade magazine webinars and programs. Also, review information from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Their websites offer a wealth of information for you to communicate with your employees and solutions for safety issues that exist. Spend some time reading this information and you will have greater knowledge on how to make safety a cultural commitment at your business.
- Set up a rewards system for your teams. For every 1000 hours that all employees go without an accident, they could be rewarded with a Subway lunch or pizza. Make it fun and top of mind for them as well. The more aware they are of an incentive, the less likely they will be to sneak a text when on the job, or take a shortcut with the equipment to save time, or to forget the mask in the truck and breathe in potential toxins.
Be careful with your ideas. Domino’s Pizza had the great marketing idea of guaranteeing pizza delivery in 30 minutes or less. This exponentially grew their business. However, due to one fatality and other accidents that involved Domino’s pizza delivery drivers resulting in multi-million dollar law suits, this guarantee was dropped. Safety first.
This is only scratching the surface on ideas and tips for employee safety. To make it a top priority for your company, be sure to be an active witness of doing the right thing for safety yourself. Your business will be rewarded in many ways. Your employees will be healthier, and likely more productive and your insurance agent may be able to hold your premium costs where they are because of your exemplary safety record.