A team approach to safety that provides adequate personnel, resources, and employee training has been shown to reduce or eliminate work-related injuries and deaths. Without a team-oriented safety awareness program, employers may be liable for workplace injuries suffered by employees.

The Team Approach Increases Safety

Employee involvement in safety training and awareness is an essential component of a workplace safety plan. Equally important is the safety team that leads and oversees the safety program. This team approach provides safety leadership and increases employee awareness and compliance with safety standards.

Safety Team Leadership

Engagement in the safety process by workers across all levels of an organization is essential to reducing workplace injuries. Relying on one person to manage safety can result in serious gaps in safety awareness and procedure. By creating a team of safety professionals, employers greatly expand their control and employee compliance with safety issues.

A typical safety team includes dedicated safety professionals familiar with OSHA requirements and reporting, management leadership that has the authority to create safety policies and require compliance with them, safety team members appointed from the employee population who regularly provide guidance to other workers regarding safety issues on the job, and administrators who prepare and maintain all OSHA-required documentation of workplace injuries, deaths and illnesses.

Benefits of the Safety Team Approach

Employers who allocate adequate resources to establishing a safety team create a safety culture throughout their business. This safety culture offers several key benefits, including:

  • A decrease in the number of recorded accidents and injuries and the associated expense
  • A decrease in the business’ experience modification rate and cost of workers compensation insurance
  • Greater employee safety awareness
  • Improved job performance and reduction of safety related-delays and work stoppages

Without a Take a Team Safety Approach Employers May Be Liable

When a workers compensation attorney reviews an employee injury case, one of the key issues they consider is whether the employer provided adequate safety protections, procedures and awareness training regarding job hazards. Employers who fail to dedicate sufficient resources to employee safety may be found negligent by the courts and required to pay damages to the injured employee. By providing a company-wide, team approach to safety that engages all employees in the process, employers can reduce their liability and improve employee performance.