8 Steps Towards Safety Culture and Company Growth
Safety culture has become a sort of buzz word within transportation but developing a strong culture of safety is essential to keeping your company growing. There are so many threats facing the trucking industry right now, and the type of company culture you have can make or break you when it comes to these threats.
If you want to get serious about safety, it’s going to take everyone in your company understanding the importance and being ready to work together.
WHAT IS A SAFETY CULTURE?
Culture is all about a shared belief, idea, and mindset, and that’s what a positive safety culture is all about. You want to have everyone on the same page about the importance of safety in the workplace and how to make positive changes.
Everyone from the owner to the managers, to the drivers, to dispatchers, to office employees need to buy in to your culture of safety for it to have an impact. Those who can develop a strong safety culture find that they see:
- Increased productivity
- Increased employee engagement
- Reduced turnover
- Decreased accidents and injuries
In a time when you are worried about CSA violations, increasing litigation, increased accidents, and rising insurance costs, developing this culture is a big step to dealing with those issues.
So, how do you develop a strong culture of safety? There are 8 key elements you need to get in place.
#1- Get Everyone Involved in Planning Safety Programs and Initiatives
This process starts with getting leadership on board and ready to put the safety of their employees first. Leadership needs to be ready to model the desired behaviors if they expect everyone else to join.
Every employee in your company should get a say in what changes are needed to improve workplace safety. There should be an easy way for everyone to provide feedback and make suggestions, so they feel part of the process and are more ready to participate.
#2- Be Clear About Expectations
Safety is everybody’s responsibility, and each employee should have a clear role to play in maintaining a culture of safety. For this to work, you need to have a solid, easy to understand vision for what you want, including assigned responsibilities that each person can follow.
Safety programs and initiatives should enhance your goals, and if everyone understands their role, you can get more traction and create the changes that best fit your company needs.
#3- Create Accountability Measures
Employees at all levels in your company should be held responsible for their assigned roles in maintaining safety. Putting accountability measures in place is part of the goal-setting process. You need corrective action plans in place to help improve behaviors when protocols are not followed.
Just as importantly, those corrective action plans should be enforced with everyone. The company leadership must be willing to be held accountable just as much as everyone else, and be ready to listen to employee feedback.
#4- Make Sure There is Open Communication Across the Board
If everyone is responsible for your safety culture, that means everyone should have an easy, safe way to address issues and concerns. Employees should not have to fear repercussions if they need to file a report or address a problem.
This open communication also means every employee has access to safety policies and procedures. You need to provide them with every tool to make the workplace safer and need to make sure they are informed of any new or updated information.
#5- Give Employees Power to Address Safety Concerns
Making an employee feel safe if they need to report an issue isn’t always enough. They should also have the ability to put a stop to a dangerous situation. For instance, if a driver feels they are required to do something that could put them into a violation situation, they should be able to say no.
You need a system in place that allows employees to make these decisions and easily get them reviewed. Any issues brought up by employees should be reviewed in a timely manner so real changes can be made.
#6- Provide Consistent and Ongoing Safety Training
For real safety changes, every person in your company should complete regular training on important safety topics. You can include your priority issues as part of your orientation training.
With an online training management system like INFINITI Fleet Safety Training, you can also maintain an ongoing training schedule that does not disrupt productivity. Assign training company-wide or customize training schedules to different departments based on the areas of concern for your safety culture. With a consistent, ongoing training program you can ensure safety remains top of mind.
# 7- Measure Your Results
No program or initiative can be successful if you have no way of measuring your progress. For each goal that you have, you should have some way of measuring the success or failure. For instance, to ensure your safety training program is working, you want tools that will help you track progress and results.
You can use other tools such as measuring CSA violations, or crash indicators to provide more insight into how well your safety culture goals are going. The important part is understanding what you want and what counts as success at each step.
#8- Celebrate Those Success Moments
People love to feel that their efforts are noticed. If you have a driver who has reduced violations or has maintained a clean record, make note of that to the company. This can work for any department.
Anywhere you see people stepping up to improve your culture of safety, make it known. Others will want to join in because they want to get that recognition as well.
Get the Tools You Need to Make Safety Happen
Safety culture is a commitment and an investment. There is always room to improve, and that improvement can’t happen without the right tools in place.
The INFINITI Workforce platform provides an online training, tracking, and reporting system that will help you get started in training for positive changes in your company. The platform also provides a simple solution for communicating updates to your employees, no matter where they are.
Do you want to see how INFINITI can streamline your training and communications? Set up a free demo to see how easy it is to get started.
Empower your Team’s Training
Transform your team’s success with INFINITI’s versatile Enterprise Learning Management System. Tailor training to your industry’s needs with customizable content or explore our extensive library covering topics from OSHA to HR. Our seamless integration with third-party tools ensures a smooth experience, while cross-departmental training management simplifies organizational efficiency.
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3 Safety Training Pillars:
1️⃣ Training Anytime & Anywhere 2️⃣ Job Specific New Employee Training 3️⃣ Corrective Action Training
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