Demonstrating the company’s commitment to safety requires action and discussion which is led by management and yet involves employees at every step.
Communicating with employees about safety commitment & compliance
Allowing employees to make some decisions about their equipment, and ensuring it is as comfortable, familiar and personal as possible is preferable to cornering difficult employees and demanding they wear PPE or face disciplinary action.
Proper training and demonstrations of equipment, combined with a realistic understanding of behaviours, can help control many objections to requirements for achieving compliance.
Connecting employee awards to overall safety and themes such as PPE reinforces the idea that the equipment is part of a uniform approach used by the company to improve safety performance.
Small items such as embroidered patches, key rings, pins, stickers and tags can be purchased with simple, universal messages or custom made with company logos and phrases.
PPE can now also be easily personalised with names & role titles which creates a portable display or experience. This approach won’t suit all types of PPE and must never interfere with correct function. However, the approach reinforces “this is my equipment, this is my job, and I’m good at it”.