How to Start a Safety Campaign
Safety is a top priority in all industries. However, safety incidents can run high and might require special attention. If this is the case in your facility, implementing a campaign to help balance safety numbers and bring up the morale of employees may be necessary.
Safety campaigns can range from a single workplace to a national campaign. These campaigns should be targeted to specific hazards, injury types, or practices you want to improve or implement. This could include:
- Reporting injuries
- Proper ergonomics
- Implementing new safety measures
- Proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) utilization
When you first start forming the idea of a safety campaign, you must first form a committee. Members of this committee should include not only safety department personnel but other employees throughout your facility. These members will have a deeper understanding of what takes place in their designated area and how to communicate effectively with the people in those areas. Not only should a member of multiple departments be included, but there needs to be an equal representation of workers and management. It is also beneficial to have at least one member whose duties include internal communications. This way the messaging will be designed specifically for your company.
After you have formed your committee, it is time to brainstorm ideas for your campaign. You must target what you want to focus on and go from there. Select what safety measure you want to improve and develop a definition of the targeted hazard that will be used throughout the campaign. Create a theme or motto and use statistics to draw attention to the need for the campaign.
You must develop clear main factors of the campaign and decide how the campaign will be implemented. Main factors include, but are not limited to:
- Why is this campaign necessary?
- How will the campaign work?
- What incentives are involved in the campaign?
- How will the campaign be measured?
- How will you communicate the campaign?
A successful campaign needs to be interactive and promote facility-wide communication. Depending on the size of your facility, how you communicate will be important as well. Examples of communications are:
- Posters placed throughout the facility
- Emails
- Digital signage, if your facility has access to a program
- Intercom announcements
Communication might entail a company-wide meeting where you should go over the main factors of the campaign. During the meeting, you will need to answer any questions that employees may have and distribute materials detailing the campaign.
By having an interactive campaign that gives employees incentives, you will produce greater participation which could lead to desired results. To get employees engaged, implement a game or a reward system for those who meet the requirements of your campaign. For example, every time an employee finds a genuine safety hazard, their name is placed into a drawing.
Not only do safety campaigns raise awareness of safety measures and your personal safety goals; they also aid in your company’s overall productivity. When employees perform their job safely, they also perform their job correctly and at a steady rate. Also, when employees are safer there is less absenteeism and lower worker’s compensation cost.
Gathering the data from your campaign is an important step to gauge how efficient your campaign was and what can be done to improve it. Compare your numbers from the beginning of the campaign, the middle, and the end. Observe what numbers went up and what numbers went down. Adjust your messaging and focus accordingly. Safety campaigns are unique for each facility. Think about the culture of your company and design a campaign that falls into those lines. No safety campaign is perfect and may require adjustments, but with a successful campaign, you will be able to see a decrease in safety incidents and a boost in morale.