5 Tips for a Safer 2023

1. Foster a strong safety culture

Safety is everyone’s responsibility, from boardroom executives to the front-line workforce. This is something which must be engrained in your organization to truly have a strong safety culture. A key piece of the puzzle is management and senior leadership involvement. They must truly be invested in this, as their engagement and participation will trickle down to all parts of the organization.  

Psychological safety is another essential element needed for a strong safety culture. Psychological safety is when senior leadership and management create an environment where employees feel comfortable to share their feedback and opinions without fear of punishment. Encourage two-way communication where employees can share their opinions to help uncover hidden deficiencies which you may not have been aware of.  

Don’t forget to extend your safety culture to third-party contractors! In the past, organizations have faced fines, company shutdowns, and a loss of credibility within the market due to incidents involving third-party contractors. Make sure they are properly vetted before coming on site and that they are aware of all your company policies and procedures before starting work.  

To learn more about how to create a strong safety culture, read our whitepaper 5 Steps to a Strong Safety Culture.  

2. Use reporting to make actionable, data-driven decisions

Having access to the right data can help you achieve your safety goals and efficiently protect your people. With robust reports and custom dashboards, you can track patterns and predict trends to help you strengthen your safety program and processes and stay proactive.  

Tracking data through pen and paper can be extremely difficult, which is why we recommend using a digital safety solution and reporting engine to enhance your data collection process. This will also help to break down data siloes, as all information is now in one easily accessible platform. It will also help to strengthen communication between teams as all key stakeholders have access to the data and can make more informed decisions.  

Want to find out more about how to use data to stay proactive and create a safer work environment? Read our whitepaper, How to Convert Safety Data to Actionable Insights.  

3. Train, train, and re-train employees

Another way to create a safer work environment is by training all employees and third-party contractors, as well as scheduling regular refresher sessions. All workers must have the knowledge and training necessary to conduct their job tasks safely. This is done through in-person training as well as online courses.  

Awareness courses through online classes can be taken first, so the worker gains more knowledge about the task before conducting it. Then they can put what they have learned into practice on the field through in-person training. And just because an employee already took training on a particular topic, doesn’t mean they should not retake it. It is vital that awareness training continues to help refresh the workforce’s memory and avoid any possible incidents.  

Don’t forget to track all employee training sessions and certifications, so you can avoid expiry dates or fines. The last thing you need is an expired certification during a surprise inspection. One of the best ways to do this is through a digital solution. Want to find out more about digital training? Check out our webinar, Solving Top Safety Challenges Through Digital EHS Solutions: Part One- The Value of eLearning and Digital Training management.  

4. Continue to refine and strengthen your safety program through continuous improvement

An essential part of creating a safe workplace is continuing to refine your safety program through the continuous improvement process. This involves the Plan, Do, Check, Act Cycle which you can use to strengthen your safety program and/or it’s individual elements.   

The first step in the cycle is Plan. This involves setting your objectives and everything required to help you achieve your safety goals. This includes the necessary resources required as well as a plan of what processes must be executed. Next is Do, which entails carrying out the plan you set in the previous stage. This is the stage where you also communicate the plan to employees and conduct safety meetings to encourage feedback.  

To find out more details about the next steps in the Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle, check out our guide, EHS Management Continuous Improvement Guide.  

5. Implement a digital solution

Another key tip for creating a safer work environment in 2023 is implementing a digital solution. This is crucial as it will help streamline your safety processes and simplify document management. With all metrics and information digitized in one central platform, you can also gain a 360-degree view into your safety program. This makes it easy to identify gaps and deficiencies and prioritize which elements are most affecting your teams.  

With everything in one centralized platform you can also stay on top of all employees and create profiles for each. This makes it easier to manage both in-house employees and third-party contractors. Easily share documents and information with chosen external members and stay on top of their safety activities and performance to avoid incidents related to contractors. This also makes it simple to track training and certifications for every employee with automated notifications for upcoming expiry dates.   

A digital safety solution with a robust reporting engine can also make it easy to track trends and patterns. It will help you deliver key metrics to drive safety performance. With key analytics, you can prioritize areas of weakness and mitigate risks more effectively. It can also help you stay proactive and ahead of hazards to protect your workforce.  

Learn how to effectively implement a digital solution at your organization with our guide: How to Successfully Go Digital in 5 Simple Steps. 

How EcoOnline Can Help 

The EcoOnline suite of solutions can help you execute all the above tips and more. Our mission is to help organizations like yours create safer work environments and protect your people. Gain full visibility into your safety program with all documents digitized and centralized in one easily accessible solution. As mentioned earlier, this will make it easy to spot gaps or deficiencies and allow you to prioritize areas of concern. 

Empower your workforce with our mobile EHS management solution by making it easy to conduct inspections, take photos, and instantly alert key stakeholders of hazards with the click of a button. We also make it easy for employees to work uninterrupted, even when in remote locations, with our reliable offline mode. And that’s just skimming the surface.  

Start the year strong with us! Fill out the form below or contact an EcoOnline representative to learn more.