Did you just attend a free safety information session and walkway with the distinct feeling that they are as confused or more confused than when they walked in the door. Do you feel like you can ask your employee and contractors to do anything without putting you house on the line, have the questions you had been answered or are you7 more confused than ever and have a stack of new questions that need answering.
I know that is how I felt the first time I went to a free information session about workplace safety back in 1994 when I was operating my first business in plumbing and roofing. I left confused and feeling very alone with a hell of a lot to learn quickly. Please do not get me wrong information sessions are great but they are limited and at times focused on sectors that do not cover your needs and depending on how many product suppliers and industry consultants are there as you leave the door on the way out to hand you there information you may feel like it’s all too much.
Is it all too much. When it comes to workplace safety it’s not like you have a choice unless you look for the options!
The old cop out that it’s “too hard” or “too much extra work” is without pulling any punches bull shit! I challenge you to go to any workplace, mother, husband, father, son or daughter that has experienced serious injuries or worse of their loved one and ask them if workplace safety is “too hard” or “too much extra work”. The reality is in real terms you need to invest in time and a little capital (very little) to get safety moving in your business or enterprise, what you cannot do is:
- ignore it as it will never go away
- start it up and then let burn out, workplace safety never finishes
- Pretend you have it under control. You know if its real or if its smoke and mirrors keep it real!
Workplace safety needs to be part of your business culture and you as the owner or manager need to be its knight in shining armour you need to drive it support it and enforce it. That means that you need to practise what you preach. If you have expectations that you will implement a systems that applies to your staff but not you then you are never going to successfully integrate safety into your workplace culture it will be doomed to fail from day 1. In the event of an accident or serous incident all will be revealed no stone is left un turned and blame will be apportioned to those responsible.
So what are you waiting for? Get a meeting organised with your staff today and if you need some help get us involved you will be surprised just how simple it is!
Summing it up, yes you do have a lot to learn and you need to know what your responsibilities are, I am guessing that as a successful business owner or manager you know your clients and you will do your best every day to service their needs and make sure they are happy. This mentality is the same one you need to bring to your workplace safety program.
Safety is a life time commitment that is one you can embrace and get on top of, or its one that you can ignore and suffer the consequences of think about how you would tell your employees family member that you did not have time for safety, think about how the loss of your livelihood could affect you, think about being a better version of the successful business operator or manager you are by getting started with Safety Today.