Especially for warehouses, factories, plants, and production facilities, safety is paramount. To protect both workers and outside visitors, you’ll need to establish good internal communication and implement a health and safety program.
Establishing a Safe and Positive Work Environment
You want your managers to have an open-door policy. That way, employees feel comfortable addressing anything without fear of consequences. However, your leadership team also needs to keep workers informed. Overall, good internal communication helps build trust and solve problems.
Along with that, you need to implement an Ontario workplace health and safety program. This begins by having a licensed engineer or safety expert conduct an on-site assessment. That entails looking for anything that’s potentially dangerous or non-compliant. The expert then generates a report of the findings, as well as suggestions on what to change.
However, the top health and safety consultants in Ontario stress that this type of program is only as good as the people who know about it and follow its guidelines. So, you or your managers need to keep employees informed.
Spreading the Word About a Health and Safety Program
You could either send an email or letter to all the workers to let them know about the assessment. Also, you’ll need to send this same information to vendors, suppliers, contractors, and other outside sources. The reason is that according to OSHA regulations, you need to include them when establishing a program for Ontario workplace health and safety.
OSHA provides details about workers’ rights. Below are some examples of these:
- They have the right to participate in the process of identifying and resolving concerns, whether health or safety-related.
- They have the right to know about potential exposure to hazardous materials or situations associated with their duties.
- They have the right to refuse work if they believe it’s too dangerous.
In addition to this, provide your employees with training on the new Ontario workplace health and safety program. The depth of training varies according to the employee and their job. For instance, workers who perform factory-type duties require more extensive training compared to those who handle administration tasks.
The top health and safety consultants in Ontario emphasize the importance of educating certain employees about current safety laws and OSHA regulations. Ultimately, they need to know what they are, why they’re so critical, and the consequences of not adhering to them.
The Bottom Line
To bring safety issues to your employees’ attention, make sure you’ve established excellent internal communication. Then, let your employees help in establishing a health and safety program. That makes workers accountable and gives them a greater sense of pride in the work they do.
To have an assessment done and get help to set up an effective program, contact us at S.A.F.E. Engineering, Inc. As a leading health and safety consultant in Ontario, we’ll guide you through the entire process.
