How — and Why — to Implement a Workplace Safety Plan
This article was updated on July 25, 2018.
A safe workplace is a more productive one. Creating a workplace safety plan can help reduce the risk of employee injury or illness — and lower your workers' compensation costs, too.
Follow these five steps to create a workplace safety plan for your business:
Step 1: Inspect and improve your worksite.
Do a walk-through of your facilities and look for any potential hazards that should be addressed ASAP — everything from tripping risks to too-dark lighting. Identify potential injuries and create an action plan to address them.
Step 2: Conduct a job safety analysis.
Review job procedures from beginning to end and build safety practices into every role:
- Identify the basic steps involved in the job
- Determine potential hazards
- Outline safe work procedures and controls
- Monitor job processes and safety controls on a regular basis, making improvements as needed
Step 3: Put it in writing.
After you've inspected your worksite and conducted a job safety analysis, turn your findings into written safety guidelines that detail your processes and expectations. By clearly defining your policies, you'll establish a culture of responsibility and accountability, better manage your risk and have materials readily available if an incident occurs.
Step 4: Train your employees.
Offer on-site training tools and safety resources, like the guidelines mentioned in step #3. Your carrier can be a great source for training assistance. Educating employees helps them understand why safe practices are necessary and how they can use them to help minimize or eliminate accidents. Be sure to make safety training part of your onboarding process for new employees, too.
Step 5: Analyze accidents.
When accidents happen, figure out why and how they happened. Record the incident to help identify patterns or recurring issues. This will allow you to make proper adjustments to your worksite and job procedures, and possibly avoid future occurrences.
Success starts with a safety-minded partner.
