How Often Should You Be Evaluating Your Facility Safety Programs?

It’s been awhile since the New Year mad rush to get all of your workplace safety compliance updates in order to fit with new regulations, is it time for a checkup? A new study at Texas A&M University says that workplace processes should be evaluated every 3 months to be at its optimum efficiency. The study states that a safety climates assessments ability to predict future safety mishaps has a drop off pattern that by the fourth month has no predictive power— the relationship between the safety assessment and incident rate in the organization expired.

If once every 3 months seems unrealistic for your facility for a full safety evaluation, make note of what areas of work are highest risk and start by checking them as often as possible. Get your workers actively involved in the process. Encourage them to report any concerns or near misses.

The alternatives for ignoring problems and not keeping a safe workplace are sobering. Recently managers were sentenced up to 5 years in prisonfor not providing workers with the proper workplace protections. Another owner was sentence to 15 years after a worker fatality. The consequences are real and could easily be avoided.

Trying to implement any kind of change in the workplace can admittedly be difficult and face resistance but attitude is key. Begin to lead by example and follow through on promises. Create an action plan and set milestone check-ins. As you begin to carry out your initiative, your persistence will pay off. Recognize those achievements and continue down the path of continued safety improvement.