Safety is what we do! The word is part of our business name for good reason. Safety can mean different things for every organization, but it is important to ensure you have proper safety standards and procedures in place to keep your workplace and employees protected. Today, we wanted to delve a bit further into what safety means to us, and why it is important.
Merriam-Webster defines safety as the following: the condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss. While it seems simple, you would be shocked at how many organizations do not put safety at the forefront of their business.
The Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Act, Regulation and Code outlines the standards for health and safety practices in Alberta workplaces. The OHS Act ensures businesses follow such practices and not complying with them can result in heavy consequences. These can include fines, imprisonment, corporate probation, a creative sentence, or a combination of one or more. Under the OHS Act, a first offence can result in a fine of $500,000 and/or six months in prison per violation.
At DF Safety, we provide a wide range of occupational health and safety consulting services to businesses and organizations across all industries. If you have a business with twenty or more employees, you are required to have a health and safety program established for your workplace.
It is important to keep safety systems simple. Training and expertise are important but also need to be paired with solid core values. DF Safety pillars itself on honesty and integrity on every project.
When it comes to safety, it is vital that leaders in the organization not only explain the way in which they do things, but also the reasons why. Safety standards should be consistently enforced. If you have systems that are not measured or enforced, they will not be followed.
It is also important to encourage worker participation. Keep your employees involved with the management system and overall program so that you set your employees up for success, build their confidence, and allow them to address questions and concerns which can benefit your business or organization in the long run.
Safety is not something to be taken lightly! If you have questions about your own safety plan and procedures, we would love the opportunity to work with you. Contact us today, and let’s get started.