Standards, auditing, procedures and policies are the tools of a safe workplace but, no number of tools can replace a safe work culture. Here at Recovery Partners we conduct safety risks assessments on companies day in and day out, and it’s easy to identify a company where safety is at the core.
You can tell straight away just by meeting the senior management team or direct operations or managerial staff on how well Safety is being practised in the workplace.This is because a safe work culture is driven from the top down with the bottom up responding by placing their personal safety and that of their colleagues at the centre of their jobs.
Customising the Work Health and Safety Management System (WHSMS) Plan will outline how to manage all potential risks throughout an organisation with the procedures within the WHSMS providing clarity on what needs to be done and when and by who. However, the real key is open consultation and communication. It is the holy grail of safety!
If everyone is on board then Safety will naturally become ingrained into the culture of the business – consultation, communication and responsibility all require getting people on board and to “buy into” safety.
Effective ways to create the buy-in to close the Safety deal is to run safety activities in the workplace throughout October – National Work Safe Month. This year’s theme is Be a Safety Champion – anyone can be a champion for work health and safety. It doesn’t just have to be a WHS Manager or a HR Manager – it can be anyone because work health and safety affects all employees.
Activities, endorsed by the Executive Team but attended by all of the company, are a great way to reinforce safety culture in the workplace. Activities could include breakfast forums, webinars, drills and quizzes or things as simple as putting up Safety posters around the office
This National Work Safe Month is a perfect time to start or refresh your safety culture not just for the month of October but to be ongoing throughout the year. It’s a month committed to the education of Safety in the workplace both personally and professionally. And it doesn’t need to be boring or take a significant amount of time.
All you need to do is communicate Be a Safety Champion in everything you do for an entire month and ask for the commitment of all staff to include Safety in all their meetings and daily lives.
Be a Safety Champion this October for National Safe Work Month.
If you’d like to know more about Recovery Partners Services, get in touch by emailing admin@rrp.com.au or calling
1300 OHSRTW (647 789) today.