Every safety manager is faced with the challenge of complacency at some point in their career. Other business priorities (i.e. increased productivity, improved quality, and profitability) can distract managers and employees from their safety mission. This distraction causes employees to stop paying attention to their surroundings, resulting in increased risk to the organization and a rise in the number of near misses and incidents. The importance of safety in the organization becomes a “nice to do” rather than an integral component of the job.
So, how do you keep employees motivated, engaged, and even passionate about safety? It starts with you. We’ve all heard the phrase “talk is cheap”. This is especially true when it comes to safety. To keep the message alive, it takes more than a presentation or posters on the wall. Managers need to put actions behind the words to demonstrate their commitment to safety.