As a leader, you are not just responsible for your safety, but for the safety of your employees as well. Unfortunately, safety risks can come from almost anywhere, and keeping employees safe requires dedication to vigilance.

Keeping your team safe should involve creating a plan, engaging everyone in the organization and teaching the plan, so everyone is prepared. Consider the following steps to help keep your employees safe.

Get management committed

The priorities of safety personnel inside a company can often seem at odds with business interests, so it’s very important that management recognizes the value of safety and commits to upholding safety policies.

Management must determine the resources it is going to commit to protect employees, such as investments of time and money, and be vigilant about handling safety- and wellness-related reports.

Involve employees

Staff members can serve as valuable contributors because they have firsthand knowledge of the processes and areas involved in a safety policy. For instance, safety committee members could participate in safety training initiatives and even lead in the event of an emergency situation.

Enlisting staff members also helps increase employee buy-in at every stage of the process. When employees know they or their colleagues have a say in various safety rules, they will be much more likely to follow them.

Identify and address hazards

Reviewing accident logs and near-miss reports is a great place to start. Patterns within these records can point to imminent threats that should be address right away.

Safety hazards can be addressed in a number of ways, including through the use of engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment.

The identification and management of safety hazards should be an ongoing process.

Get advice from experts

Safety experts are available to provide specific tips and even classes on how to address the various risks in your workplace. Because of their experience, these experts can locate or foresee safety hazards you may have overlooked.

Formulate an emergency plan

Ensure that every staff member is aware of what must be done in the event of an emergency situation. A definitive plan of action should be developed by safety experts and reviewed by legal counsel. Although you might have a sense of what is safe and effective, the best course of action isn’t always intuitive. An expert will be able to tell you what works best, and what doesn’t.

At Action Group Staffing, we fully support all the safety initiatives of our clients. If your company is currently looking for a talent acquisition partner, please contact us today.