How to Improve Work Organization to Reduce Injury
- 1). Conduct a safety training class at the orientation for all new hires. Share with the new hires your accident totals, both currently and from the previous year. Additionally, hand out a checklist of safety topics you want to share with them as you give the class, and have them check off items as you go along. Once the class is complete, you can ask the new hires to sign the checklist and turn it in; these can be placed in their personnel files for verification that you covered all safety topics.
- 2). Schedule a safety meeting once a week and invite all available employees to attend. By leaving open the option for them to attend the meeting, this will allow you to hear their concerns and show them that you are going to address these issues. Such meetings offer an opportunity to clear up any confusion employees might have and answer their questions.
- 3). Build a safety team of employees. Use your department heads to fill these positions and explain to them the importance of the team. Many companies let employees volunteer their time at work to be a part of such a team, but in some cases they also offer an incentive for participating. Once the team is in place, have its members conduct a safety meeting. Another key to the success of these teams is your continued support and attendance at their meetings.
- 4). Place clean-up stations around the workplace to allow a quick response to any spills or other types of debris that could lead to an injury. Such clean-up stations demonstrate that you want to create an injury-free atmosphere and keep a clean and safe work area.
- 5). Create an incentive program to reward your employees for working in a safe and accident-free manner. With your company's accident or injury analysis report, you can see areas for improvement and how you can plan out your incentive program. For example, if you have a problem going 10 days without an accident or incident, you will want to make an incentive plan for achieving seven days without an accident, then 14 days, and then 30 days. With each goal achieved, plan to have an event or reward day during which all employees can share in the reward. Remember to keep it simple and achievable.