Workplace safety is essential for the success of both employees and the organisation. One of the most effective ways to promote safety is to create a strong safety culture based on open communication and active observation. In this article, we examine how safety observations can serve as a basis for the development of a safety culture and the safety of employees.
Low-threshold reporting: the key to the effective promotion of safety
One of the most important factors in developing a safety culture is the promotion of low-threshold reporting practices. When employees feel that they can report their observations easily and without fear of sanctions, they are more likely to get actively involved in the promotion of safety. Low-threshold reporting makes sharing observations straightforward and helps create an open atmosphere where safety is a priority.
Positive, negative and corrected observations: all are valuable
It is important to understand that safety observations can take many forms. They may be positive, such as noting adherence to safety practices, negative, such as identifying a risk situation, or corrected, indicating that an issue was already addressed in connection with the observation. All these observations are valuable and encourage active observation and intervention. Safety observations are the key to developing a safety culture, and they can be used to continuously learn about and improve upon the safety of the working environment. While individual observations are not indicative of the overall situation, recurring observations at a specific site may be a sign that the situation needs to be examined from a new perspective.
Take a deep dive with analytics
The collected data can be used for different purposes, such as identifying security risks, monitoring safety trends and assessing the effectiveness of safety measures. Analytics can also be used to detect abnormalities and allocate resources where they are most needed.
Furthermore, analytics can provide a deeper understanding of compliance with safety practices and possible shortcomings. For example, analytics can be used to further analyse the underlying causes of a particular security event, which will help prevent similar events in the future.
Kiwa Impact offers a solution
With Kiwa Impact’s mobile reporting, anyone can submit a safety observation on their mobile device at any time and place, without logging in. The responsible person can process the submission and give encouraging feedback to the person who submitted the observation, after which the data can be analysed and the necessary measures can be taken to promote the safety culture.
- Create and edit effective tools for collecting observations within your company
- Collect observations from the field – anytime, anywhere
- Process observations, improve performance and give encouraging feedback to those who provide observations
- Monitor and analyse observations along with the measures derived from them
- Bring your safety culture to a new level
Author:
Joonas Jääskeläinen, Product owner, Kiwa Impact™
