Developing a Positive Health and Safety Culture at Work

Posted 1 month ago

A positive Health and Safety culture in the workplace can transform the success of a business. Your approach to promoting Health and Safety can be a catalyst for change amongst your staff. It can help to combat the adverse impact of tiredness, fatigue, anxiety and stress – which contributes to an average of 19.6 days off each year for those suffering from them.

From a business standpoint, this can equate to a loss of productivity, increased running costs and low team morale. But, turning those negatives into positives is simple, and it starts by developing a positive workplace culture for all.

So, we’re here to help. We’ve sought the advice of our Health and Safety experts to offer a few practical tips to help you and your business develop a positive health and Safety culture for all. There’s no time like the present, so let’s explore this in lots more detail!

Understanding the meaning of safety culture

Across all levels of your business, alignment on Health and Safety values is paramount. This should be the cornerstone of your strategy, and it starts with senior management. Think of Health and Safety culture as a profitable branch of your business. It might not be a product or service-based offering that you are selling, but it is an investment in the sustainability of your business, in terms of wellbeing and staff retention.

Developing a positive safety culture requires strong leadership. Health and Safety can often be viewed as a ‘box-ticking’ exercise to meet corporate compliance within an organisation. Detaching from this stigmatised perception means obtaining buy-in from the most important people within the business. Only then, can the message of promoting a positive Health and Safety culture begin to your employees.

Why Health and Safety culture is important?

Before exploring this in more detail, let’s talk about the importance of Health and Safety culture. Every company will have its own version of a Health and Safety strategy. You’ll tailor this to meet the specificities of your business. However, your strategy will only be successful if the workplace safety culture harmonises with the pre-determined goals set out in said strategy.

Safety culture informs your overall Health and Safety policy and the impact is noticeable. Being open, transparent and agile in your approach offers flexibility and room for change. It shouldn’t be perceived as a downside either. Being adaptable to change shows a willingness to cultivate a cultural shift within the workplace that best serves the business.

Driving engagement through creative initiatives is a great starting point. We understand work can be stressful at times, and encouraging staff to partake in Health and Safety initiatives alongside their daily duties may seem like a thankless task.

Once the foundations are in place, you can then start to implement building blocks that bring value to the business. The fruits of your labour will then start to appear, helping the business to flourish.

Building a Proactive Health and Safety Culture

The late, great Albert Einstein once quipped:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”.

Let’s apply this nugget of wisdom to the context of promoting a positive Health and Safety culture. To be positive means being proactive, and as we alluded to previously, it comes back to being flexible and open to change.

Taking a proactive approach means you can involve the people that matter most, your staff. Giving employees a platform that invites enthusiasm and engagement helps to drive personal investment in Health and Safety culture.

We’ve developed a few practical strategies and fun initiatives you can use as a source of ideation below:

Encourage open communication – Employees often seek solace in their fellow counterparts. Offering a platform where staff can consult each other on what they struggle with and what can be improved can prove invaluable for both them and your business.
Incentives that drive productivity – Workers love to be recognised and valued, so consider incentives that put their best interests first. Think about hybrid working arrangements and tailoring work schedules to lessen the burden on your staff.
Company initiatives – Develop a wellness strategy that ties in with promoting Health and Safety throughout. Challenges that encourage healthy habits like regular exercise and balanced nutrition can be a great way to drive engagement and foster healthy competition amongst your staff.
Integrating new employees – Consider an onboarding programme for new employees that includes Health and Safety training to align everybody on the same page from the start.
Guest speakers – Sometimes, a different perspective from an external source can be just the tonic to inspire people. A quarterly visit from a different Health and Safety representative could help prolong the impact of your message for staff.
Wellbeing committees – Depending on the size of your business, you could employ a small team or individual of dedicated Health and Safety champions to help promote the importance of developing a positive Health and Safety culture.

A positive Health and Safety culture: The business benefits

As a standalone subject, Health and Safety may seem mundane to some employees. Perhaps, even some senior colleagues too! But, the business benefits are simply too important to ignore, so extinguish any lingering scepticism by sharing the following perks with your colleagues and employees.

A safer workplace for all – increased awareness will reduce workplace accidents and reduce absenteeism, keeping workers safe and productivity high.
Increased employee engagement – Keeping Health and Safety high on the agenda increases engagement, which leads to safety protocols being followed and a safer work environment for all.
Reducing running costs – Any measure you can adopt to save a little cash is a positive! Legal costs can soon run into the thousands if workplace injuries occur.
Higher staff retention – If a positive Health and Safety culture is promoted across the business, the domino effect of boosted team morale will lead to higher rates of staff retention!
Staying compliant – A compliant business is a successful one. Enhance your reputation as a people-first organisation and reap the rewards of winning more work.

Enhance your Health and Safety culture with our help

Developing a positive Health and Safety culture accelerates growth, and boosts the reputation of your business. Our range of online Health and Safety courses will help to improve your employee’s knowledge of safe working practices, reduce risks in the workplace, and help to create a more compliant, safer work environment. Check out some of our most popular courses below:

By working with us, you’ll benefit from interactive online training that inspires your employees and contributes towards your approach to developing a positive Health and Safety culture for all.

You can claim a free, no-obligation trial to any of these courses today or request a bespoke quote and we’ll be in touch to discuss your unique training requirements.