Building a Culture of Maintenance Work Safety

Our maintenance service has lost the highest accident and recording time at the factory during the past two years, and the situation does not improve. What should I do to improve our safety record?

By the nature of work, the maintenance staff face a greater likelihood of accidents. Welding, cutting, grinding and assembly / disassembly are much more prone to accidents activities like turning your computer on and off, the production of documents and make a report.

That said, with good leadership, there is no good reason why an employee should be endangered. There are three key elements of any security program: Leadership, Education and Celebration / Correction.

Ideally the safety compliance is a major concern for the entire organization. Even if it is not, the service manager must be able and committed to the development and live a culture of safety within the industry. It starts with a genuine concern for the welfare of all employees.

If the leader is only reacting to what is required by senior management, the results are diluted. Employees are very perceptive when it comes to measure the sincerity of intentions. If these intentions are perceived as insincere, people will not follow.

The leader must also have experience in the field of security. This can be achieved through a contact of the safety of personnel or training outside. The leader should take the initiative to education and celebration and the corrective and performance tuning and monitoring medium term.

Education is the second key element. Employees must not only be aware of their current performance, but also what the expectations are. They need to understand the actions and activities that have led to this performance.

It is the leader's responsibility to set expectations. Many companies are based on monthly interviews security to keep safety in mind. When the incidence rate is high, you may want to do it twice a month.

Each maintenance function will be somewhat different from institution to institution. The analysis of all work to be performed, listing potential accidents and their probability.

These lists are excellent subjects for security talks. The effort to develop security talks sends a strong signal to employees the importance of security for the ministry.

If workers just a piece of paper are delivered, asked to read the safety message, and then sign it, you certainly will not get the support and belief that the organization really cares.

Posters and other memorabilia of the potential hazards in the work area, by contrast, are a great idea. of accident investigation reports must be communicated immediately and reinforced by a safety depth discussion with all employees. The more attention you give to this increased awareness on the part of employees.

All near misses must be reported and analyzed, corrective actions communicated to all affected employees. To overcome the reluctance of employees to these events, a sense of trust must be developed by the department head.

monthly celebrations of accomplishments, however small, are a must. Hold a team and not individually. This helps build the spirit of the corporation within the department, a sense of anyone looking for everyone. Occasionally there will be people who do not choose to operate in a safe manner.

After a few sessions of progressive training, corrective disciplinary action may be needed to defend the importance of improving safety performance.

Develop a culture of security is not a tactical one task and done and not done overnight. A concerted effort to eat, breathe and sleep safety for years to get firmly established effort. Once employees truly believe that leadership really cares about their welfare, the most difficult hurdle has been crossed.