Worker safety is a topic that can’t be ignored. In 2016, 5,190 workers were killed on the job — an average of more than 99 deaths per week or more than 14 per day — according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The last thing you want is for one of your team members to become a statistic, so make worker safety a time priority at your company. As one of the leading manufacturing recruiters in Chicago, Premium Staffing, Inc. urges you to take the health and safety of your team seriously.

Five Ways to Effectively Improve Worker Safety

Knowing what steps to take to improve worker safety can be tricky, but OSHA has you covered. Follow these tips from the Agency to do everything in your power to keep employees safe on your watch.

Implement a Safety and Health Program

Formalize your commitment to employee well-being by establishing a formal safety and health program. If you’ve avoided doing so thus far because of the expense, do note that indirect costs have been estimated to be at least 2.7 times that of direct costs of workplace incidents, so you’ll actually save money.

If you feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of this initiative, take it step by step. OSHA recommends several practices to get started, including making safety and health a top priority, leading by example and implementing a reporting system.

Hire the Right Managers

Management sets the tone for safety practices at your company, so you need the right people in these key leadership positions. Get rid of managers who don’t make safety a top priority and replace them with those committed to making your work environment a place where people always come first.

Engage and Empower Your Team

You can’t improve workplace safety without 100% buy-in from your team. OSHA advises getting all workers — including contractors, subcontractors and temporary staffers — to participate in establishing, operating, evaluating and improving your company’s health and safety program. This means they need to feel comfortable speaking up about safety concerns and have access to necessary safety information.

Put Hazard Prevention Controls in Place

Proper regulations can minimize or eliminate health and safety risks, so their importance cannot be emphasized enough. OSHA recommends choosing controls that make sense for your company and creating a hazard control plan that explains how they will be implemented. Address the most serious hazards first, monitor progress toward completion of the control plan and review the process regularly to make sure controls remain useful.

Provide Education and Training

Essential for both managers and workers, proper education and training helps people stay informed about workplace hazards. When your team is equipped with the knowledge to identify hazards and the controls needed to keep them at bay, they can actively participate in the cause. OSHA also advises training employees on the importance of your health and safety program, so they understand its importance and their role in the initiative.

Want to hire engineers committed to workplace safety? Premium Staffing, Inc. is here to guide your search. Contact us today to staff your Chicago area company with talented professionals who always put safety first.

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