September 25, 2019

Combating Employee Safety Complacency

7 Tips for Preventing Complacency in the Workplace

When you make safety a priority within your organization, employees start to follow suit. Unfortunately, over time, employees can begin to show signs of complacency — failing to remain mindful and respectful of the safety hazards around them.

Safety complacency can be a major contributing factor to injuries and incidents on the job. When workers grow comfortable working around dangerous machines and other assets, they often become less cautious around them, which can lead to severe injuries.

Fortunately, at Stronghold Safety Engineering, finding actionable solutions to workplace safety hazards is our expertise. Strategizing to minimize complacency is a common consideration across diverse industries and operations, so we’ve created custom courses-of-action for an abundance of distinct work environments.

How to Prevent Complacency: 7 Steps for Emphasizing Safety

Employee complacency is an ever-present threat for any organization. Worse still, it’s especially dangerous when a lapse in judgment can cause real physical harm.

This is why it’s critical to anticipate these issues and work to avert them proactively, particularly in industries with powerful machinery. While eradicating complacency company-wide might not be feasible, there are certainly ways to address it.

With the right Industrial Safety Services, you can empower your employees to help in maintaining secure, productive workflows across the company. Use these ideas to inspire your efforts.

How to Overcome Complacency in the Workplace

The top 7 suggestions for combating workplace complacency include:

  1. Emphasize Company Values to Facilitate a Safety-First Culture
  2. Provide Comprehensive Training and Regular Coaching
  3. Switch Up Routines & Schedules to Reduce Fatigue
  4. Include Changes that Allow Employees to be More Focused
  5. Provide PPE and Utilize Safety Signage
  6. Issue Regular Reminders
  7. Request, Consider, & Act on Employee Input

To understand these points, consider the following:

1. Emphasize Company Values to Facilitate a Safety-First Culture

Safety should be at the forefront of your company’s values — and employees should understand that. Are your values regularly shared, discussed, and reinforced?

When you don’t consistently demonstrate your company’s values, they can become lost or misunderstood completely. Taking company values for granted is one of the many underlying issues that contribute to safety complacency.

Consider sharing examples and stories of when employees brought company values to life — especially those involving safety — to encourage others to do the same.

2. Provide Comprehensive Training and Regular Coaching

Incorporating safety training and coaching from leadership can be an excellent way to keep employees from becoming complacent.

Provide thoughtful and engaging training for all employees in regards to safety procedures, communication, and protocols.

Afterward, leaders should continue to help mentor or coach employees in the workplace.

3. Switch Up Routines & Schedules to Reduce Fatigue

A prime factor in complacency is too much regularity or routine. Over time, this creates an “auto-pilot” response from workers.

By switching up routines, you can introduce fresh ways of doing things while keeping safety incorporated into the mix. Experiment with new communication methods, education channels, workflows, and working environments (using employee feedback for inspiration) to shake up workplace routines.

These are all great ways to keep employees engaged and enthusiastic in their work.

4. Include Changes that Allow Employees to be More Focused

Along with switching up routines, leaders should be incorporating changes that allow employees to be more focused and mindful. Step back and really take a look at the nature of your employees’ work.

This can help you envision opportunities that will add meaningful variety. Help workers become more self-aware of their work and surroundings.

This will help them notice when something around them is off, as well as when they are not in the right safety mindset.

5. Provide PPE and Utilize Safety Signage

A great way to remind employees of the dangers and hazards that surround them in the workplace is through the use of Safety Signs. However, these signs don’t work if they aren’t placed in areas that can be seen clearly.

There are three types of safety signs:

  • Caution
  • Danger
  • Safety Instruction

As an organization, you should also be providing proper training on how to use safety signs — including how to interpret them, when to remove them, and more. By leveraging safety signs throughout your workplace, your communication is clear: safety comes first.

6. Issue Regular Reminders

Speaking of communication, you should regularly distribute engaging and consistent safety reminders. This is invaluable in ensuring that safety stays on the top of your employees’ minds.

These can include interactive emails, regular training, mentoring or coaching, and even morning meetings to discuss major safety concerns.

These reminders will ensure that employees have safety fresh in their minds throughout the day, week, month, and year.

7. Request, Consider, & Act on Employee Input

Those with their boots on the ground are often the most reliable resource for ideas on combating the hazards they face. Complacency, as a risk category, is no different.

Some may have a perspective on the execution of their responsibilities that you haven’t considered. Others may simply have negative feedback, but that’s okay too.

Criticism can be constructive in determining if processes and procedures contribute to a routine and under-stimulated environment. Engage your employees to seek inspiration for your ideas and guidance on your strategy.

Reduce Safety Complacency with Stronghold Safety Engineering

If you’re concerned about employees being complacent at work, then it’s vital to be proactive. Fortunately, by implementing solutions that compel employees to be active, engaged, and committed to safety, you can minimize this risk in your workplace.

At Stronghold, we’re passionate about helping you create and maintain safer facilities. Having a safety plan is essential, but will only keep employees protected if it’s implemented correctly.

Let us be your full-service partner for solutions that reduce or address safety hazards in the workplace. When your employees and company are on the line, you need a safety partner you can trust — to get serious about safety, reach out to our team today.