how to create an effective health and safety program.

A worthwhile health and safety program is not a dusty binder curated only to tick off the compliance checkbox. It reveals your competence for business continuity and talent sustainability. Your health and safety program must give a panoramic view of distinct employee needs, whether physical or psychological.

Fabricating a skeleton of the organization’s safety priorities warrants a 4-step approach. One this article fleshes out. Right from setting the ground ready for a safety vision of your leadership cohort to championing a culture of well-being, this article unveils every brick you need for a solid health and safety establishment.

leadership commitment for a solid health and safety program.

If you aim your health and safety program to flourish, you must first prepare the soil. The rudimentary effort must come from your senior leadership. Upskill your staff in the executive level to walk the safety talk diligently.

Whether it’s about stiffening physical safety protocols on the manufacturing floor or putting together a rule book to keep a check on workplace toxicity, your senior leadership should kick off the drill. This can be a massive undertaking and can encompass an array of change management initiatives across its lifecycle.

For instance, you may need to allocate adequate HR-related resources to train your forklift operators for safety. Or, make course corrections in your training infrastructure to make workplace health and safety a key component of the employee upskilling modules.

Furthermore, setting a tone of vigilance across verticals also holds its weight in the safety equation. What outcome can you expect from this goal? Transmitting information through your formal communication paths only half the story. In addition, empower your HR and operations teams to device fresh routes enabling a seamless information transfer.

establish internal health and safety protocols.

Perfecting your health and safety program is an uphill battle, stipulating an arduous list of pursuits and visible amends in your workplace strategy. However, your principle accountability is to allocate action items and integrate safety into all work events.

For instance, you may need mandating a ‘safe return’ manual when your transportation staff docks heavy machinery in the dock station. Or, consider putting together a workplace label to prevent detrimental encounters and unwarranted behavior on the office floor. 

Having said that, spare a thought for employee education, while you aid an ecosystem that puts your key stakeholders on the job. Case in point, curate a training video series, operate it as an upskilling apparatus to introduce and engender safe behaviors across diverse workforce cohorts.

Furthermore, take stock of the performance of your key stakeholders responsible for workplace health and safety. Institute regular check-ins exclusive to how seriously your workforce is taking your health and safety protocol.

how is safety different for operational and professional talent?

1. health and safety framework for operational talent.

Protecting your operational talent kicks off with systematic hazard identification. You can’t just wait for accidents to happen. How can you do this cleverly? You must proactively look for physical hazards. This applies to all your common operational roles.

Furthermore, carry out detailed risk assessments. This means you must think through the dangers your workers run into every day. To begin with, break down the risks of slips, falls, machinery interactions and ergonomic injuries that come from repetitive manual handling.

Next, introduce the hierarchy of controls. Don’t just jump to PPE. Try to eliminate the hazard first. If you can’t, consider substitution or engineering controls. Additionally, it’s also your job to run comprehensive training sessions. This is precisely how you solidify safety protocol internally.

This safety manual is the backbone to make this strategy work. So, put together a safety manual that’s clear and accessible. What should this document encapsulate? It must lay out your standard operating procedure.

In addition, it should also spell out a non-punitive reporting process. Further, it encourages people to speak up about injuries, near misses and a behavior that lacks accountability. Finally, what impact does this have on your people? It encourages people to raise their voice against harmful behavior and stand up when needed.

2. safety framework for professional talent.

A psychologically safe culture doesn’t just happen. You have to nurture it. Kick off with your leadership proactively defining a positive workplace. You must spell out what respect means. Then, you must actively hunt down and mitigate toxic behaviors.

Furthermore, don’t let bullying, harassment or extreme pressure slide. Step in before they lead to burnout. What’s more? Your internal communication system is crucial. This is how you make your values stick. In fact, use it to constantly point to and reinforce good behavior.

How else can you strengthen your health and safety framework? Make a big deal out of team successes. Operate with safety code to explain your cultural values clearly. This must go out to everyone, across all departments.

Finally, work on team bonding. Set up effective collaborative projects. Employ social events and office hours to solidify connections. Frame these activities as a critical part of your health and safety plan. They’re meant to boost workplace positivity. In conjunction, this positivity directly links to heightened productivity and helps you hold onto your best people.

training and continuous improvement is your unique offering.

Rolling out a health and safety training program means getting everyone talking a common safety language. However, this training must be comprehensive and broken down by team needs. For example, operational talent needs to drill down on physical needs. This includes hands-on equipment use.

Furthermore, it also covers emergency procedures. Conversely, your professional talent’s training looks very distinct. It centers on psychological safety. This means spotting burnout, managing conflict and developing positive leadership.

Additionally, you must keep a close eye on your program’s effectiveness. What does this mean? Start by setting up a review cycle. Go over all incident reports. Listen closely to your talent. In fact, a formal safety audit through a solid communication pipeline helps you round out this picture. This is how you find your blind spots.

An effective health and safety program is a living process. You must get that through your head. Why? Your workplace changes and business adapts to evolving challenges and world economy. This cycle of continuous improvement is what truly keeps your people safe in the long-term.

randstad helps you connect the dots.

Let’s pull all the threads together. A comprehensive health and safety program must be looked at as a single, unified system. Don’t break down the program into completely separate parts. Your goal must be to protect everyone. This holistic view is what sets a great program apart.

The safety manual you pass on to your workforce is just half the job done. The communication strategy you leverage is another massive step. If you want to follow the dots from health and safety to a stellar talent strategy, talk to our team of talent experts. Discover how an employer brand that stands for steadfast workforce safety can draw in and keep high-caliber talent.