Employee engagement is key to safe working environment, says BSC
The British Safety Council (BSC) has said that in both SMEs and larger corporations, employee engagement can be the key to maintaining a safe working environment.
The BSC suggested that by improving communication between workers and management, and involving the workforce in managing risks, businesses can boost employees’ motivation and willingness to follow health and safety policies.
What the BSC is suggesting is that rather than relying on a supervisor or colleague to take sole responsibility for health and safety issues in the workplace, each and every worker be encouraged to gain a good understanding of how to stay safe and protect others whilst at work.
Employees can learn about the important issues by attending basic workplace health and safety training courses. Supervisors should also attend these courses, in the form of more advanced, tailored programmes such as the CIEH Level 3 Award in Health and Safety in the Workplace.
Employers should actively promote these training courses, as they will ultimately benefit the business by helping it to comply with regulations and avoid prosecution from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Most importantly, of course, the proper training can help to prevent accidents and the compensation claims that generally follow them.