Make Workplace Safety More Fun

Many traditional safety programs focus on metrics like recordable incident rates, and they approach safety from a reactive state of mind. However, today’s safety statistics show that relatable modern programs are better at mitigating injuries and incidents. The new tactics seem to capture a larger audience while still delivering the required information.

These new tactics include incentives and encouraged participation. Safety rewards may not be as exciting as a night out, but they encourage people’s cooperation and sometimes they can even be considered fun using some healthy competition. With that in mind, we’ve gathered some brilliant methods we’ve come across to make safety fun at the workplace. After all, safe team members should be praised and accredited; this is one of the few ways to influence others.

Reward Safety

Awarding safety success is a great tool for creating more incentive. Clearly, employees care about their own safety but in todays society thanks to great protocols it is no longer the elephant in the room it once was. Rewarding safe staff helps employees realize you care more than just the bottom line.

Staff appreciate being recognized, and safety is a great thing to promote. Providing food at the workplace to celebrate safety success is one method. Many organizations have even created their own reward systems such as “safety dollars” or “safety coins” where team members can earn them as they perform tasks safely or as team members identify and correct safety hazards in the workplace. These safety dollars or coins can then be used to redeem prizes.

Likewise, creating set time periods to focus on safety behaviours–such as a company safety week or month–creates more incentive and keeps the topic fresh on the minds of team members.

Relatable Fun Safety Courses

We’ve all been there. Watching a boring course that is just droning through the material and has little to no re-world examples. This sort of material can have an adverse effect on safety. Some courses even inadvertently trivialize the danger through poor acting and exaggerations. If you use outdated courses, it discredits your lessons. Look for safety courses that speak to your viewer and bring up real-world examples.

There are even courses that add a bit of humour to their lessons. Some see this as joking about safety, but that’s not how they’re seen by staff. These courses balance a tone that is less patronizing to your team members. Keep in mind team members find some lessons insulting and the slight bit of humour allows them to relax and take in the material. After all, your team is likely a group of professionals who like to think they understand their job well. A course with humour or even participation brings the mood back to a re-cap rather than a lecture.