Inspiring Safety - Ideas to Keep Safety Top of Mind
With nine distribution centres and over 1,500 employees working in the automotive industry, a safety awareness program that used NASCAR themed incentives and rewards only seemed logical for an
Ontario-based car parts manufacturer.
“It speaks to their demographic and what they like,” says Brian Scott, president of CoreCulture Inc., the company that helped create a safety program whereby five distribution centres reported and competed for the best safety record on a quarterly basis. The winning distribution centre gets a checkered flag, trophy and NASCAR style T-shirt — the last place distribution centre gets a beaten up NASCAR tire that they must display in their lobby: “No one wants the tire,” says Scott. Every other centre receives a yellow flag.
The friendly competition helps to increase safety awareness in the work environment. “It helps to build and leverage a culture of safety.”
Creating programs to keep the safety culture vibrant is key to safety success. Instead of rewarding employees to report for no lost time accidents — which can often lead to false reporting to get a prize — rewarding and encouraging safe behaviour creates a safe culture atmosphere long after the initial training has finished.
It’s these programs that keep safety on employees minds from the moment they start work to the end of the day. “Everyone likes that the posters are customized to each team,” says John Rodriguez, manager of the California distribution centre, which participated in the program and took home
the checkered flag.
“That gives employees a sense of ownership for the program and it gets them interested and involved,” says Scott.
According to WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) statistics, workplace injuries such as slips, trips and falls can cost an employer “$2,000 in direct WSIB costs and a total of more than $22,000 in indirect costs.
This can cost an employer upwards of $100,000 in lost work time. So, how does a company achieve this culture of safety? How do employers create an atmosphere where safety is always on the minds of employees without creating a culture of fear?
What Speaks To Your Employees?
Flags or prizes might not engage your employees. So, the trick is to find out what does.
“Some employees would really value a personal letter from the president, even a handshake or lunch,” says Brian Fish, president of SafetyNet, consulting company. But consider that if management and employees don’t get along, a handshake isn’t going to do much to increase
safety awareness.
At Weston Bakeries, a CoreCulture program, which has 5,000 employees in over 40 plants across Canada, employers were looking for a way to engage their employees in safety as well as smooth out any inconsistencies amongst the several plants; they wanted to bring everyone up to the
same standard.
After much consultation with CoreCulture and fielding responses from employees about what they wanted, a safety reward program was integrated.
Employees would be awarded points for safe behaviours that included everything from attending a safety talk, giving a safety suggestion, identifying and reporting a safety hazard, initiating a workplace inspection or submitting a safety article to the newsletter.
Once these points have accumulated, they could redeem them for a prize. It worked. Not only did safety improve throughout the plants, employees felt engaged and part of something.
Web-Based Reinforcement
Whether it’s a new training lecture or routine safety training, many employees often walk away retaining a fraction of what they just learned.
Web-based tools are a way to reinforce a message and keep safety top of mind for employees.
“From a compliance standpoint they (employer) need to train their employees, but what that allows them to do is see how much of that training the employees actually retain — with an online platform it’s very easy for us to measure the level of retention rate, which is really key,”
says Scott.
He adds that nine out of 10 times an employee will retain information a day or two after they take the training. Reports indicate that upwards of 50 to 70 per cent of what they learned will stick. But, the truth is not that favourable, he says. “Research has proven that within 30 days if they can retain 10 to 30 per cent within that training, that is a lot.”
To enforce the safety message, Scott helps create web-based tools that are consistent; one such program asked the employees daily questions about their training.
“We push out to employees a quiz question each day specific to the training that they took; if they answer wrong we give the correct answer.” If the employee answers correctly, they are taken to another web page for a chance to win a prize; in this case it was a one-arm bandit slot
machine whereby they take a spin to potentially win.
That is a tool that encourages the employee to be an active listener in the training. “They’re learning while they’re playing this game but it’s not like they feel they are being taught or instructed — they’re excited about the concept and about getting the daily question.”
If, however, you don’t have employees that log onto a computer regularly, then there are other simpler ways to reinforce the message.
Cheque It Out
At Robert Q Airbus, a transportation service company that takes customers to and from the Detroit and Toronto airports, all staff participate in a safety appreciation barbecue every year; they also use posters in the drivers’ area about safety reminders, which change every two
months, but the company also ensures safety is reinforced on a regular basis.
Employees are paid bi-weekly and with each pay memo that goes out there is a safety message written on it. Last month’s message: “Encourage your passengers to buckle up.”
“We have messages about tips from everything including ergonomics to driver fatigue,” says Rosie Sinopole, the driver coordinator for Robert Q.
Consistent reminders
At The Home Depot Canada, where retail employees are constantly lifting, or handling dangerous goods, safety is discussed every morning at a staff meeting. This sets the tone for an industry that must change with the times.
Over the years the safety atmosphere has changed tremendously. “The Home Depot Canada has developed a structured Canadian health and safety management system,” says Noel McDermott, CRSP, divisional environment health and safety manager for The Home Depot Canada.
“This system is made up of safety standards that have been developed to be in line with CSA (Canadian Safety Association) standards. Our stores use these standards along with various
other tools to run a safe operation.”
These tools include daily inspections, training, safety meetings or other safety related tasks. The programs are no more rigorous than they were years ago; it’s just that there are more of them with “lots of detail to meet specific safety legislation or The Home Depot’s expectations.”
Incentives are in place such as one called “365” whereby stores will receive a barbecue at the end of the year if they receive no lost time and other safety indicators. Another incentive, called “The Angel,” is a reward given to employees who save a customer’s life. “It’s rare but it does happen,” says McDermott. He recalls an incident whereby an employee saved a man from choking in a store. These awards reinforce the need for updated and consistent CPR training.
Through these consistent and engaging messages, employees have created a safe place to work: “New measures do not reduce workplace injuries; it is our employees’ day-to-day commitment to working safely and The Home Depot’s overall health and safety culture that continues to help reduce injuries.”
Indirect safety messages
Most of these programs are centred on rewarding safe behaviours: if an employee does X then they receive Y. However, employees also want to know that employers care about their safety outside of work — and it doesn’t have to be linked to a certain behaviour.
“You can always give someone a safety kit (car or healthcare) that is not based on performance,” says Fish. “It says (to the employee) that we just want you to be safe outside of the office.”
Janet Trachter agrees. As the vice-president of sales and marketing for Superex, promotional products division, she understands that employees should always feel that their employers care about their safety.
When an employer gives an employee a safety kit, such as a first aid kit for the glove box or a car safety kit for the trunk, if it is refilled and maintained, the employee is constantly reminded that their employer has got their back — even outside of the office.
“Safety kits make the recipient feel safe and secure and makes them feel like they matter to their advertiser,” says Trachter.
She remarks that kits are made-to-order for any budget and don’t have to be tied to any specific safety training. In the end, the employee is left with the feeling that they matter. It speaks to our human nature: everyone wants to feel safe and secure.
