As Vigilant’s safety manager, I have an opportunity to work with hundreds of manufacturers in industries ranging from steel fabrication to wood products to food processing and agriculture. All of them share a strong commitment to workplace safety. The top performers elevate this commitment by investing in a culture of safety and constantly setting new standards in safety leadership and regulatory excellence.
Here are five cornerstone loss prevention strategies I’ve seen have the greatest impact.
- Learn year round- Top safety performers provide continuous safety training consistently throughout the year ensuring safety stays top-of-mind every day. Supervisors are responsible for conducting and documenting training to ensure it is relevant and actionable.
- Mix it up- Increase workers’ knowledge of safe behaviors on many different pieces of equipment by cross-training employees on various pieces of equipment, and/or rotating operators between machines. Some manufacturers also mix it up by offering flexible work arrangements to reduce fatigue or ergonomic-related safety incidents.
- Report, investigate, improve, regardless of injury- Investigate near misses to prevent injuries, instead of only focusing on incidents with actual injuries. Foster shared responsibility and conduct team-based root cause analysis’ involving multiple stakeholders beyond the injured employee and supervisor, including upper management.
- Embrace technology- It seems like every day I see or hear about a new safety technology ranging from wearables to computer vision to lighting. Top safety performers embrace and experiment with new technologies. For example, I recently met with a member who installed manufacturer-approved blue lights to signal nearby pedestrians about the presence of forklifts. While OSHA doesn’t require these lights, it’s a relatively inexpensive and forward-thinking way to improve forklift awareness to pedestrians in any workplace setting. Notably, OSHA reports an annual incidence of 35,000 and 62,000 forklift-related injuries.
- Lead the way- Leads and supervisors must lead by example and provide ongoing mentorship and coaching to new employees. It is important to have robust processes in place to ensure employees are coached and trained beginning on their first day and continuing until their last. Working in a culture with this level of care results in a profound appreciation for the collective effort required in maintaining safety.
Above all, successful employers who experience consistently low injury rates have leadership who prioritize sending every employee home safely. They demonstrate this commitment through their actions and words, actively investigating and adapting when needed. They employ data analytics for injury pattern detection and proactively apply loss prevention strategies. They remain vigilant, and understand accident prevention is a journey.
If you’re interested in learning more about any of these strategies, please contact me. I’d love to talk with you. You can also learn more about Vigilant’s safety services including our popular New Hire Safety Leadership and Vigilant Safety-Focused Leadership training courses.
