Safety Communication as a Powerful Tool for Prevention

It’s the call no supervisor wants to hear.  The radio crackles and a frantic voice from the other end shouts, “Man down, man down.”  The moments that follow are crucial.  What plans are in place?  What role does each person on the worksite play?  While these are important questions, the most impactful question is the one that should have been asked long before.  How could we prevent this from happening?

A culture of safety is a powerful tool in the prevention of workplace accidents, and promoting that culture begins the moment a worker starts employment.  Communication at all levels of the company is key to building an environment where workers know safety comes first.  A 2019 NIH study concluded that “when workers actively engage in communicating safety hazards and collaboratively identify suitable injury prevention measures, superior safety performance can be achieved.”  Superior safety translates to less lost productivity time, higher employee satisfaction, lower health-related costs, and increased employee output.  Structuring safety protocols from the macro to the micro levels of a company and providing two-way channels of communication becomes an important way to build a safety-aware work community.

Management Level Communication

Creating effective safety communication begins at the highest levels of a company’s business model by implementing protocols that establish trust between the company and its employees.  Emphasizing to employees from their first day on the job that safety matters is a means of opening trust-based communication channels.

Management can demonstrate a commitment to safety by hosting safety events, creating safety training programs, providing the proper tools along with safety training, scheduling regular equipment inspections, clearly labeling hazardous materials and equipment, and posting safety instructions in work spaces.  Companies can also gain valuable insight into safety issues by partnering with occupational medical clinicians to identify potential areas of safety concern on the worksite.  Emphasizing safety in these ways creates a culture in which employees are more readily willing to communicate their concerns, but another important step is to promote team-building.

Team building exercises are a key to establishing open lines of communication between ground-level employees and their supervisors.  Human Resources should make it a priority to build good relations by utilizing team-building strategies, and can, as an added benefit, combine them with safety training programs.  Another important step that HR can take is to emphasize the importance of one-on-one communication with its representatives.  Research suggests that the culture of “macho” on dangerous jobs often not only prevents male workers from communicating in front of peers, but also discourages female workers from conveying concerns.  Additionally, language barriers that hinder communication and productivity pressures and prevent workers from conveying safety concerns to direct supervisors can be alleviated by HR representatives meeting one-on-one with employees and acting as mediators between the employee and management.  HR representatives should consider ways to schedule regular individual meetings with workers and to emphasize an open-door policy for safety concerns.

Supervisory Safety Communication

Supervisors should, of course stay up-to-date on safety issues, review protocols, and enforce safety practices, but should also encourage communication about safety issues from their supervisees.  An effective method of building team unity while promoting safety in the workplace is for supervisors to hold regular Tool Box Talks.

Tool Box Talks are brief prepared meetings to inform workers of workplace hazards and OSHA regulations.  It is a good idea to practice speeches in advance, to hold talks in a quiet area free from distractions, and to work with props or walk through procedures, particularly in situations where language proficiency may be an issue.  Keep in mind some important follow ups to your talk.  First, reinforce discussed safety issues with procedural posts that represent procedures both in language and in pictures.  Second, allow employees to ask questions in a welcoming manner so as to keep communication channels open.  Finally, document each meeting as evidence of the company’s commitment to safety.

Other steps supervisors can take to promote open safety communications are: routinely survey employees about hazards: review new and altered procedures, materials, tools, and environments; conduct frequent safety inspections; listen to staff concerns and their understanding of procedures; keep records of safety programs; and evaluate the effectiveness of your safety training.

Communication and Safety for the Worker

Workers should be prepared to attend safety training seminars, to listen to supervisor’s precautions, to willingly practice safety procedures, and to utilize all safety equipment.  It is also important for employees to readily communicate perceived hazards to their supervisor or to Human Resources.  But perhaps one of the most important means of communication to promote safety is the use of the two-way radio, particularly for those who work in remote or dangerous locations.

Two-way radios not only allow for real-time updates on work progress, conditions, and concerns, but also offer critical safety features in times of emergency.  Two-way radios come equipped with an emergency button that can be programmed to send alerts via phone, email, or central system to relevant parties and can also identify the employee who keyed the alert.  Additionally, radios can be equipped with GPS locators for workers who operate in remote locations.  Other valuable features include: the “man down” alert, which is triggered when the radio is tipped to a certain angle; the “lone man” feature, which triggers an alarm if the user has not called in within a preset time; and the boundary feature, which sets off an alarm when the radio moves outside a designated area.

The radio acts, then, as the last open channel of communication to provide assurance to the workers that their safety is a priority.  It’s another way for the company to say “we’re listening, we’re prepared, and we’ll be there when you need us.”