CREATE A CULTURE OF SAFETY All employees should keep safety top of mind for the good of themselves, your customers and your company. BY ERIC KNAAK
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sk yourself a simple question, “Do I promote a culture of safety here at work?” Do you educate your team about safety on a scheduled basis or only when something happens? Do you hold people accountable for their unsafe working practices or do you turn a blind eye to the little things? Do the members of your team understand the expectations placed on them when it comes to safety? Take that pause now and honestly answer those questions for yourself. If you feel good about where you and your team are when it comes to safety, good for you. It takes time, effort and commitment to create a culture of safety in any organization and those of us in the HVACR industry have the unique challenge of being at new locations every day, so that effort is multiplied. When you work at the same location every day, it’s easier to identify and educate people about potential safety hazards, the necessary personal protective equipment
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HVACR BUSINESS MAY 2021
The goal is to create as safe of a working environment as possible for your employees so that everyone goes home to their families at the end of the day. (PPE) and best practices. When you travel to a new home, building or job site every day, you need to start at the beginning each time. More importantly, you need to rely on your team members to identify potential hazards and to mitigate or work around those hazards in a safe manner and that’s where a culture of safety comes into play.
EMBEDDED IN CULTURE A culture of safety is one where the thought of working safe, using proper safety practices, and not taking any chances is embedded in the DNA of an organization. From the newest employee to the most senior, there is an understanding and an expectation of what is safe, what is not and what to do when
a potentially unsafe situation is identified. In a culture of safety every member of the team has the ability to stop work and if needed, call for assistance when an unsafe situation exists without fear of reprimand or retaliation from supervisors, managers or owners. Not only does it negatively impact the trust of the team to retaliate against someone who halts work because of a safety issue, it is also a federal OSHA violation.
IMPLEMENTATION What do you do if your organization is not where you would like it to be when it comes to safety and you would like to create an environment where your team feels compelled and empowered to work safely?
Every company is different and therefore approaches things differently. The goal is to create as safe of a working environment as possible for your employees so that everyone goes home to their families at the end of the day, and that may not mean doing things exactly as we are doing here at Isaac Heating & Air Conditioning For Isaac it starts with a 100 percent commitment from the leadership team, that safety is the most important part of our workday and that we will not compromise on safety for any reason whatsoever. Any member of our team has the ability and the empowerment to stop a project, no matter the size if there is an unsafe or potentially unsafe situation that they have identified. Safety is one of our core values, along with Uncompromising integrity, Continuous improvement, Community, Family and Fun. Safety is also our number one ranked ordered priority, meaning that
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