Look out for your safety culture !

You rely on your employer to keep you safe on the job, and they boast a top notch workplace with a strong commitment to safety. You generally follow the rules, wear the required PPE and take the necessary training. So why would an accident happen to you?
 

Consider this: maybe everyone in your workplace doesn’t share the same enthusiasm for safety that you have. Can you do anything about it? Can your employer? Employers bear a huge responsibility to protect their workers from injury. The regulations they must abide by are very demanding, to say the least. If you suspect a poor safety culture at your workplace may be developing, keep a keen eye out for these 7 behavioral warning signs.
 

These behaviors indicate warning signs that persons in your workplace may display when not taking responsibility for their own safety, and thus are the tell-tale signs of a deteriorating safety culture.

• Being too tired for the job;
• Consuming drugs or alcohol at work;
• Ignoring written safety procedures;
• Skipping safety meetings;
• Refusing to wear PPE;
• Operating equipment without training; or,
• Working too quickly.

If you see one or more of these behaviors in your organization on a regular basis from one or more of your coworkers, say something to your supervisor or manager. There’s one thing your employer can’t do – control your actions and your attitude or the actions and attitudes of your coworkers. If you’re caught in a workplace with a deteriorating safety culture, as an employee, you must also take charge of your own safety. Remember, you have the most to gain… and the most to lose.