I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about the importance of workplace safety. A safe workplace has reduced injuries, improved productivity, and is a more pleasant place to be. But just talking about workplace safety isn’t enough — you need a plan!
Bad workplace practices can be dangerous. Yes, we know it’s an obvious statement but think about it. Unsafe practices and processes pose a serious risk to workers and can significantly impact overall production performance.
In 2020, more than 1.2 million workers will suffer injuries or illnesses related to their job that require time off from work. Many of those injuries could have been prevented with better workplace safety. More and more workers are concerned about the direction of occupational health and safety and are emphasizing it as a result.
Working in an unhealthy way takes a toll on the body—and your company’s bottom line. Luckily, you can take some simple steps to create a safer, more productive workplace for everyone involved.
We believe that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This is especially true when it comes to workplace safety. It’s an adage that applies to almost every area of life, and it’s especially true when it comes to workplace safety. Studies show that up to 99% of workplace injuries can be prevented if the right precautions are taken.
So, what is safety observation?
Safety observation is a key part of the 5-step safety process and a critical tool for improving workplace safety.
It’s basically what it sounds like: observing employees on the job to see how they’re performing tasks, assessing those observations for potential risks, and recording your findings so that you can take action to improve workplace safety.
When you do this right, you’ll be able to identify issues and make changes before something goes wrong—and if something does go wrong, you’ll have a record of what happened and why to learn from it.
You may also hear safety observations known as human performance observations or behavioural observations. They all refer to the same thing: making sure that your team is working safely.
Reduced risk exposure. Safety observations can be used as a tool to reinforce safe behaviour, which in turn reduces the likelihood of incidents and accidents. And when incidents do occur, safety observations can help identify contributing factors so you can implement corrective actions.
Improved safety culture. When used effectively, safety observations can help create a culture that embraces safety as part of its core values. This will help with ongoing worker compliance and improve the workplace experience for your employees.
Increased operational efficiency. Having a standardized process to track and follow up on observations is critical to your company’s success in managing risk and improving its overall safety performance.
To ensure that safety observations deliver on their potential, it’s critical to identify the scope of the process across four areas:
- Set up an observation schedule and frequency
- Identify which behaviours you will observe
- Identify who will conduct the observations
- Create a tracking system
Another way you can reduce workplace risk is by ensuring your inspections of safety equipment and tools are done accurately and quickly. Field Eagle can help with that. Our software is designed to make inspections of any type faster and more accurate, enabling you to forecast potential future issues with more accuracy than ever before.
Fill out the form below to get a demo of Field Eagle, or opt for a free trial and see how Field Eagle can help you today!
