Monitor Safety Measures

We have developed guidance and practical steps for you to implement each of the ten areas of focus when creating an effective Safety & Wellness Program at your organization. The following guidance corresponds to focus area number nine: Monitor Safety Measures.

Measuring the effectiveness of your organization’s safety program can be challenging. A common way organizations measure success of their safety program is by looking at the number of safety incidents that have occurred each year. In addition to looking at your overall performance each year, it’s important to assess each program area within the organization and why the improvements or weaknesses have occurred.

Leadership plays a critical role in making safety a priority. When leadership makes safety a primary focus, a culture of safety throughout the organization will develop. It’s important that management from each program area are leading by example and assessing safety measures regularly. Understanding the safety measures being taken in each program area will allow you to better understand why the number of safety incidents have either increased or decreased as a whole. Once you know why, you can replicate the successes and improve the weaknesses to prevent further incidents from occurring.

In order to make sure that your organization has strong management systems in place to assess safety measures regularly, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do managers make themselves visible on the front line regularly?
• Does your organization set targets for each manager on how often they should be visible?
• Do managers perform regular workplace inspections? The following resources provide multiple checklists that managers can use in order to perform a workplace inspection:
  • Self-Inspection Checklists 
  • OSHA Small Business Handbook
• Do all managers receive leadership training on safety?
• Are managers evaluated on their health and safety performance?
• Are managers rewarded for their health and safety performance?
• Is each program area’s safety performance tracked and measured?

Ask yourself the following questions to determine if your organization needs to put more safety measures in place:

• Does your organization track the financial cost associated with each safety incident that happens?
• Before your organization works with a contractor, do you evaluate their safety records and history?
• Does your organization have a process in place where employees can report safety suggestions and concerns?
• During manager meetings, is safety a regular discussion?
• During in-service trainings, do you regularly talk about safety to all employees?
• Is there a specific person in the organization that manages all safety issues?
• Is there a health and safety committee in your organization made up of a diverse group of employees from all levels of employment?
• Does your organization have a system in place to communicate to all employees about safety issues?
• Does your organization communicate with other organizations about safety in order to get feedback and ideas?
• When an incident happens, are front-line staff involved in the investigations, when applicable?
• Does your organization involve all staff when creating or updating rules and procedures surrounding safety, when applicable?
• When your organization experiences a potential hazard, safety concern or issue, are employees encouraged or mandated to stop work?
• What is the process to make those decisions and communicate them with all staff?
• What is the process if employees refuse to work because of a potential hazard, safety concern or issue?

For more information regarding employee safety or our Workers’ Compensation coverage, please contact wc@redwoodsgroup.com.