Promoting a Culture of Safety

Creating a culture that promotes and respects safety within your company may seem like a daunting task at first. It’s easy to assume that your employees know you want them to be safe while out on the job, but are you talking about it every day? Are you requiring them to show you how they are being safe? In order to get everyone in your company to take safety seriously, you must first be the one to take it seriously. Like many other parts of running a business, this is something that must cascade top down.

Prioritizing safety doesn’t mean reminding the team to be safe before they head out for the day. It’s about creating a structure and specific protocols for them to follow before, during and after each day of work.

Take the time to develop what the Safety Standards of your company should look like. Already have them in place? Ask yourself:

• Are they being communicated to the current team, new hires and being practiced day-to-day?
• Are your managers and job leaders holding their employees accountable?

Kevin Nolan of Nolan Painting meets with each new employee during new hire orientations and requests that they sign a pledge to take every possible safety measure on the job. He stresses his passion for safety and the meeting concludes by accepting the pledge and sealing it with a firm handshake. Talk regularly talk about safety behaviors and topics to reinforce the message that keeping employees safe is a top priority.

Some things to think about:

• Have all new employees sign an updated safety manual
• Make time for field leaders to hold weekly safety huddles
• Reference a safety audit form to ensure each job meets your safety standards
• Include safety behavior and accountability in all field job descriptions

Keep in mind- A safety culture is a caring culture. It is also a professional culture. That’s why we at Nolan Consulting Group push for our clients to make it a priority. We’ve worked with contractors across the country to put together a standard list of systems that all companies should be practicing at minimum to help preventable situations from occurring. We’re thrilled that many of our clients are now Summit Safety Certified and can promote this not only to their employees, but potential new hires and future customers as well that safety at their company is a critical factor of success. If you’re ready to take safety seriously, talk to your coach today about becoming Summit Safety Certified.

We are well aware that at times it may feel like there are just not enough hours in the day to handle all the things that must get done. But we ask you not to lose sight of your safety program and generate a culture behind it. Unfortunately, it is all too common of a mistake to only begin taking safety seriously after an accident has happened. Let’s be intentional about safety ahead of time in 2020.

Be Safe!

Carter Todd,

Member Services & Marketing Coordinator