Special Topics in Safety Management

New Year’s Resolution: Spread the Safety Message

If health and safety are truly a top priority in your organization, that commitment needs to be communicated throughout the ranks every day. There are many opportunities for doing so and many ways to do it.

The most common and fundamental direction for communication in most organizations is from the top down. Top management establishes polices and work rules and issues them to department heads, who pass them along to front-line supervisors who, in turn, spread the word to employees.

Important communications may also be published in the handbook or posted on departmental bulletin boards, in the break room, etc. Managers may also deliver announcements over the public address system or on an intranet.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

One of the most effective forms of communication and demonstration of safety commitment, however, is by example—such as by wearing the hard hat or eye protection in the same areas where workers must do so. Other actions by management that "speak loudly" of its commitment to safety and health include:

  • Establishing an incentive system that reward safe behavior
  • Sponsoring wellness programs (which may include workers’ families) that provide such services as flu shots, blood pressure screening, and the like
  • Distributing booklets on safe work practices and enclosing safety reminders in pay envelopes

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  • Maintaining close contact with workers off the job because of illness or injury—expressing concern and looking forward to and facilitating their return to work
  • Publishing information in the company newsletter or on an intranet about accidents and how they might have been prevented, about safe behaviors, and about workers with excellent safety records

Training is another vital component of communicating safety messages and commitment. For optimum effectiveness, trainers must make sure the message is received and understood as well as delivered. This may mean quick quizzes on material covered and handouts that can provided ongoing reminders. It may also mean providing information—both in training sessions and in posting throughout the facility—in languages other than English.

Sideward Communication

In OSHA’s guidelines for the conduct of occupational safety and health programs, the elements of safety communication and management commitment are closely linked to employee involvement.

It stands to reason that when workers feel they have a stake in an organization’s operations, they can more productively participate in them. This results in improved morale, reduced absenteeism, and increased compliance with prescribed behaviors such as safe work practices.

Employee involvement also results in sideward safety communication. Examples of sideward communication among employees include:

  • Sharing personal safety knowledge and experience with co-workers
  • Participating in discussions in safety meetings and training sessions
  • Volunteering to conduct safety demonstrations
  • Membership on a safety committee or an inspection or accident investigation team

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Sideward communication at the supervisory and departmental levels is also important. An understanding of each other’s functions and goals by human resources, purchasing, production, engineering, maintenance, and safety, for example, enables their separate activities to be of mutual benefit and helps promote a safer workplace.

Upward Communication

Perhaps the simplest, and virtually universal, example of upward safety communication on the job is employees reporting to supervisors when something goes wrong.

An enlightened management will benefit greatly by providing more channels for input from all levels on the organization chart. One of these is a suggestion system in which those most intimately familiar with a task are encouraged to propose changes that could make it safer, faster, or more profitable.

Company-wide opinion surveys are another method of upward communication and can help management learn about employee safety and health concerns.

Every Which Way

A steady flow of information and ideas about safety moving in all directions can only solidify a sense of community within an organization. It thereby leads to greater enthusiasm and efficiency and improved safety—as well as a more satisfactory bottom line.

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