Tips for Building a Small-Business 'Safety Culture'

There are many factors that increase workers’ compensation costs. And honestly, no organization can implement all the strategies available to lower their costs.

It's vital, however, that your small business works to manage its safety policies, reduce injuries, and ultimately lower your workers' comp costs. Prioritize these tasks, tackle the ones that make the most sense for your business, and get started today creating a "safety culture" for your employees:

• Management must set the safety culture. Management commitment and accountability promote a safer workplace.
  
• Develop a written safety program that is backed and enforced by management. Orient new employees and provider refresher training before you need it. Don’t wait for an accident to happen to train.
  
• When an emergency occurs, trained employees respond appropriately. Develop an emergency response plan and practice it frequently. Management and employees must know the proper procedures to follow in the event of an emergency such as a tornado or flood.
  
• Establish an accident reporting program. If your organization is big enough, consider a nurse triage service where you report all injuries by phone to a 24-hour nurse line. Smaller companies should build a relationship with a local physician or urgent care clinic where employees are treated if they are injured.
  
• Each position should have a written job description which includes physical requirements. Post-offer physicals should ensure applicants can perform those functions. If you suspect employees can no longer perform those functions due to injuries or other factors, consider a fitness-for-duty examination. Work with your labor attorney or human resources consultant in this difficult area of employment law, however.
  
• Develop a stay-at-work/return-to-work program. Study after study shows that employees recover more quickly when they return to work as soon as possible post-injury. When they cannot perform normal duties, bring employees in for additional training or for part-time clerical work until they can return to their normal position.
  
• Develop a safety committee of both line and middle-management employees. Front-line employees know what happens on the “floor,” and can help determine if an accident could have been prevented. They can also suggest training and changes that can prevent future occurrences.
  
• Place safety posters prominently in your organization, and rotate them frequently. Post a large board to record the number of days without a lost-time accident.
  
• Set reasonable injury-reduction goals. For example, if your workforce lost 40 days last year to work-related injuries, this year set a goal of reducing lost-time days to 30. Promote this goal with simple safety incentives to ensure employee buy-in. The reward may be as simple as a free pancake breakfast hosted by management.
  
• As your organization grows, appoint a safety coordinator to assist in these functions. This employee can review your losses and “near misses” and work with supervisors to fix dangerous conditions.  They also act as a go-between so that line employees and managers work together toward workplace safety.

Managing safety and workers’ compensation injuries is a difficult task. These steps can help your workforce stay safe and productive.