Safety is at top of the agenda for almost every business leader in Britain. They’ve recognised that removing risks from the shop floor keeps employees engaged and saves money for the organisation.
But how do you go beyond the basics to make sure your company is continually improving its safety record?
One British company, Unipart, has offered its top tips for improving safety. They should know, as they have successfully collected the British Safety Council’s top award – the Sword of Honour – for many years.
Last year, for instance, Unipart was one of only four companies in the world to win six safety awards and the Globe of Honour award for excellence in environmental management.
In 2015, Unipart broke records by not only winning seven Swords of Honour across its UK sites, but also winning three globes for environmental excellence.
So here are seven top tips – one for each Sword of Honour — that led Unipart to gaining so many accolades:
- Engaging your people in identifying and solving safety problems wherever they work. Unipart provides employees with training in problem solving tools and encourages them to find problems every day.
- Make certain that leaders lead by example by demonstrating behaviours that show health and safety is paramount in everything they do.
- Never allow an unsafe behaviour or near miss to pass by without being reported and discussed and praise safe behaviour wherever you see it.
- Make a public commitment to the health and wellbeing of employees through programmes that go further than physical risks and include mental resilience.
- Carry out good quality risk assessments conducted by the teams with their line managers.
- Use visual management techniques to alert employees to potential hazards and to reinforce the safest ways to behave in the workplace.
- Make certain that Health and Safety is a priority by setting it as the first item on every meeting agenda.