How To Encourage Safety Reporting
How to Encourage Safety Reporting
Safety reporting is key on a construction site, because it can help to address any hazards or safety concerns before workers are injured. This will, of course, keep your workers safe, but it will also save your company money. Safety reporting should be done when any hazard or potential issue is observed on the job, whether or not there has been an incident yet– it is better to report it sooner rather than later, so that you can avoid the occurrence of any issues in the first place! If a near miss incident occurs, this should also be reported. There are several ways that you can encourage safety reporting within the ranks of your workers. Take a look below to find out more.
Make Reporting Easy
First things first, make reporting easy if you want your workers to be involved in safety reporting and take it upon themselves to do so. If the process is a hassle, it is likely that they will not want to dedicate the time that is required, and it can cause unnecessary frustration as well. Use online forms, for instance, and only ask basic questions that give you the details needed, rather than making them fill out multiple questions and repeat the same information– which would make this a much more tedious process.
Use Know More Hazard App
This tip works hand in hand with the tip above, by making the process of safety reporting quick and painless. If your company is using the Know More Hazard app, workers will be able to simply fill out the safety reporting forms on their phones when the safety issues occur. The app also helps to streamline safety audits and can be customized to the individual details and needs of your company or the job sites that you are on.
More often than not safety hazards are less impactful when identified before you start working, and when identified early workplace injuries are significantly less frequent. Reporting incidents become less required because the hazards are identified by the team and can be mitigated. Reporting safety hazards is better than incident reporting because with the former there is no incident and therefor no incident reporting is needed. You identify the hazard, make everyone aware of it and then it doesn't impact your work.
The Know More Hazard app allows you to do just this. Check out this video for more info.
Do Not Attach Consequences to Reporting
Of course, we know that safety audits and safety reporting is crucial to workplace safety and the safety of all workers. However, many workers may not want to submit a safety report because they fear that in doing so, they will get themselves or a co-worker in trouble. Be sure that your workers know that there will not be repercussions for those who are recognizing and responsibly reporting safety hazards. You can easily do this by making reporting anonymous and setting up an online form for workers to submit, rather than having to do so personally.
Get Employees Involved in Audits or Inspections
Typically, you are the one who is doing the safety audits, but it is actually your workers who are using the equipment and machinery. This is why it can be a good idea to get your employees involved when you are auditing the site or inspecting the equipment. Your workers will be more likely to notice problems with the equipment or other related hazards, and may also have suggestions for other areas that you should take a closer look at. Feeling involved in the process and feeling as if their input matters may help to encourage them to submit safety reports later on, too, as new issues arise.
Present Your Results
Keep your workers involved in the process, and then they will begin to feel as if this is their responsibility, too– and they will also recognize that their feedback is welcome and appreciated. You should be sure to be open with your staff and share the results of your safety audits and inspections– in part to keep them involved and keep morale high, and in part because this is also important information that they should be aware of. To do so, you should gather information such as statistics, analytics, and recommendations or feedback. Then, share all of this information with your team– you can then come up with an action plan based on these findings.
Share Lessons Learned
This tip complements the tip above, where we discussed presenting your safety audit results. It is another prime example of how communication can help to encourage action within your workforce. Sharing your lessons learned can help to show why safety reporting is so important, and will thus encourage your workers to get involved in safety reporting themselves. Always be transparent with your team and let them know when a hazard or incident arises, as well as your action plan of how you are going to deal with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you encourage reporting?
You can encourage safety reporting on your job site by making the safety report submission available after work hours. You can also educate your workers on what safety reporting is and how people can make reports– this will help to encourage increased reporting.
How can safety reports be improved?
Safety reports can be improved by tracking key metrics and then responding to your findings. You can also make it clear to workers what kinds of details you want to see in a safety report so that you receive more in depth reports, making it easier to address any potential issues or hazards.
How do you encourage reporting near misses?
You should train your employees on the importance of reporting, as well as the reporting process. Then be sure to place emphasis on reporting any safety concerns, even near misses. You should aim to make reporting part of company culture to better encourage your workers to document any safety concerns.
How do you promote safety measures?
In order to promote safety measures on your job site, you will need to aim for a safety first company culture. You should reinforce as well as implement safety trainings, and always be sure that you are setting clear and consistent expectations for your team.
Why is safety reporting important?
Safety reporting is crucial in preventing the recurrence of these hazards and safety issues. It increases the chances that issues and failures will be identified and corrected before they cause harm to workers or develop into even more serious problems. Even minor issues should not be let go.