Many electrical construction companies approach workplace culture and workplace safety as two entirely different animals. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In the workplace, culture and safety are inextricably linked. Clearly, safety is the single most important consideration within the electrical construction workplace. This is why it is not a good idea to leave safety polices, protocols, and processes entirely in HR’s hands. Instead, such things should fall within the domain of a designated safety manager, someone who can work hand in hand with HR to ensure that workplace culture is safety focused.
The first step in creating a culture of workplace safety is to consult employees for their take on the matter. After all, the electrical construction employee who makes safety calls on a daily basis is the one who is going to have the best ideas and suggestions, gleaned from experience, regarding what a safety focused workplace culture actually looks like. At the end of the day, workplace culture is determined by workers’ views of the company’s policies and procedures. Workplace culture is all about what employees actually encounter in the workplace everyday.
Recent research supports the claim that workplace safety and workplace culture are deeply intertwined. In fact, researchers have found a statistically sound relationship between employees’ ideas about workplace culture and observed safety outcomes. Companies with employees who report positive feelings about workplace culture are less prone to on-the-job accidents, less likely to miss work, and less likely to experience safety incidents and workday interruptions.
So what’s the key factor in creating a workplace culture that is safety focused? Unsurprisingly, communication plays a huge role. In fact, employee perceptions of company communication – both its quality and volume – affects the maintenance of a safety-focused workplace culture. Six factors, all related to communication, have been observed to be directly connected to workplace safety. Absent these factors, companies are 25% more likely to deal with safety incidents.
- The company informs employees on issues directly impacting them.
- The company gives employees easy access to information necessary to do their jobs.
- The company gives employees a clear idea of its expectations regarding their work.
- The company communicates its corporate values directly to employees.
- The company keeps employees up to date on its plans.
- The company shows employees just how each department fits into overall company goals.
To build a productive and safety-focused body of workers, start by providing a workplace culture that is open regarding employees’ roles within the company and management’s expectations of employees. Communication and workplace safety are clearly connected.
