The industrial environment is challenged with trying to prevent accidents at the workplace.  Just think how much companies must spend on personal protective equipment, 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.  Visuals get people’s attention.  Promoting safety through visuals is very effective.

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. 

Here are a couple of examples of the safety posters found at tasco-safety.com:

DON’T BE A FOOL – BEING SAFE IS BEING COOL seems to be pretty self-explanatory.

Another one: The Key to Success Is Attitude

Good luck to all safety instructors.  We hope the posters will help get your message across.  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.

One last good tip for those training employees on safety: ask them to share a close call or accident they have witnessed.  First-hand information is very powerful when someone has actually seen it or had it happen to them.