Worker participation is meaningfully engaging workers at all levels in establishing, implementing, evaluating, and improving safety and health in the workplace. This means workers understand they are a valuable partner in making their workplace safer and are encouraged and able to communicate with management about hazards on the job. Workers are the experts when it comes to the tasks they do and the tools and equipment they use, which makes them a key resource for knowledge and innovative ideas that can improve safety and health.

You can engage your workers by recognizing workers or teams for their contributions to workplace safety. The following are a few suggestions and resources to get you started. You can select one of below activities or choose a different activity to engage workers in your organization.

Host a celebration

Plan an event to recognize individuals who make safety contributions throughout the week/month (e.g., participate in Safety activities, offer suggestions to improve workplace safety procedures, recognize and report near-misses, or lead a safety and health training).

At the event, have top management speak about the importance of their workers’ involvement in safety and discuss how their suggestions will or have been implemented in the workplace.

Reward safe workers

Spend the week looking for workers who are following best safety and health practices (e.g., maintain a safe workspace by wearing proper personal protective equipment PPE and operating equipment correctly and give them positive reinforcement or “on-the-spot” rewards. Managers can distribute gift certificates to local businesses (e.g., gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants) or giveaways with your company’s logo (e.g., T-shirts, pens, water bottles).

Initiate a“Safety Hall of Fame”

Announce the creation of a “Safety Hall of Fame” program to recognize your workers’ proactive and ongoing contributions to ensuring your organization is safe and sound. Solicit nominations from both management and workers. Host an awards ceremony and/or recognize the inductees with a prominently-placed plaque and in company communications.

Have lunch with the boss

Invite workers (e.g., those with designated safety roles, members of your safety and health committee) to have lunch with your CEO, president, or other top executive to discuss safety in your workplace. An informal setting might be a good way for senior management to take a more personal approach to learning about safety and build a strong relationship with workers. It may also be a good opportunity for workers to understand, from senior management’s standpoint, how safety is understood from a larger business perspective. After the lunch, make sure the event is posted to your company’s social media channels

Combine worker participation with a find and fix activity

Doing a find and fix challenge, contest, or competition that promotes worker participation in safety-related activities—such as identifying hazards or participating in mock investigations of incidents or “near misses”—can be a fun way to encourage safe work practices and learn from your workers’ expertise and experience. Following the activity, you can award prizes, publicize the results through your typical communication channels (e.g., newsletter, bulletin board, intranet site), or host a celebratory recognition ceremony.

Or, create your own activity!

 

How Do You Make It Effective?

• Be inclusive: Find a way to involve and recognize workers at all levels of your organization, regardless of skill or work area.
• Be open: Invite workers to share safety and health improvement ideas, and recognize their suggestions no matter how small or large they may be.
• Acknowledge the experts: Remind your workers that they are the experts when it comes to their tasks and the tools and equipment they use, so they are uniquely qualified to suggest how to make them safer.
• Reward continuous improvement: Recognize your workers’ contributions to keeping your workplace safe not only during campaigns, but throughout the year.

Show Your Commitment to Safety and Health

Remember to share your commitment to a safe and healthy workplace with all involved in your operations, including workers, contractors, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Continue to reward your workers who engage in keeping the workplace safe throughout the year.
• Use your website, brochures, and annual reports to recognize workers who have made contributions to workplace safety and explain how you will use their input in the future to keep your workplace safe.

Source:OSHA