The industrial environment is challenged with trying to prevent accidents at the workplace. Just think how much they must spend on personal protective equipment, training, and if an accident happens – loss of work and productivity, insurance claims, material damage, loss of life, and much time spent writing accident reports. Because everybody acts of their own free will, sometimes it isn’t easy to get them to follow what you want them to do. Ironically, those same people are the cause of most accidents! If your workers don’t obey the rules that you have established, or don’t wear their protective equipment, or don’t practice good safety when they aren’t being supervised, chances are something will probably happen, and it won’t be good! The key to controlling accidents is safety awareness; this type of safety awareness is critical in any construction site. One unsafe act can bring your safety record down in a few seconds.
What is a good way to deliver your safety message?
Researchers have found that people remember 50% more in what they see than in what they hear. Promoting safety through visuals is a very effective way to get people’s attention. Most people enjoy posters that are humorous. Pleasant thoughts generate more receptive learning. Using humor drives a point that is so easy to understand when done correctly. Cartoons can illustrate dangerous situations, which might be impossible to capture on film in real life.
Check out a couple of examples of the safety posters found at tasco-safety.com:
FAILING TO PAY ATTENTION CAN BE A BIG STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION seems to be pretty self-explanatory.
The first poster, PPE ONLY WORKS IF YOU WEAR IT – depicts work boots, respirator, earmuffs, hardhat, glasses, earplugs, and gloves, all in one picture. It reminds employees to wear the specific things that are required to keep them safe in their work.
Good luck to all safety instructors in getting the message across. We hope the posters will help get the attention of your workers. It’s also good to stock up on several and post different ones on a periodic basis, so employees will be watching for new ideas.
Good idea. Visual cues, especially vivid ones, can be excellent as safety reminders. I also believe, and so does OSHA, that employees should be trained to recognize and prevent accidents. This can be costly, but there is a solution: online training. Please visit FR Training Solutions for a free demo.