5 Key Initiatives to Involve Human Behavior in Your Safety Program
We’ve all been there: rushing to finish a task, bypassing a minor safety protocol, or thinking, "It’ll only take a second; nothing will happen." Most of the time, we get away with it. But workplace safety isn't built on the times we get lucky; it’s built on the one time we don't.
For too long, industrial safety management has been treated as an administrative box to check—a written safety plan collecting dust on a shelf. But behind every regulation and requirement is a human being. As Dale Porter, Vice President - Industrial & Safety with SMC notes, "Going home safely to your family should be the standard within your organization."
1. Turning Strategy into Habit: The Leadership Blueprint for the Cadence on Safety
Safety culture starts at the top, placing safety as a core component of your facility's day-to-day operations. This means developing consistent safety meetings, a reliable follow-up process, and corrective action activities that drive real change throughout the organization.
2. 3 Steps to Launch a Closed-Loop Near-Miss Reporting Program
Underreporting rarely stems from laziness; it happens because employees believe their reports fall into an administrative black hole where nothing changes except the reporter getting burdened with extra paperwork. The following steps should be taken to create a safety-first environment according to Shane McAnally, Project Safety Technician with SMC:
- Build a safety culture where employees are encouraged to report, not disciplined for speaking up. Employees need to feel that reporting a near miss will lead to improvement—not blame or punishment. An incentive program based on encouraging incident reporting could be beneficial as well, if structed correctly.
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Make the reporting process simple and accessible. Employees should know exactly what constitutes a near miss and how to report it, with as few barriers and as little paperwork as possible.
- Act and close the loop. This is critical. When employees see that their reports result in corrective and preventative action and that someone follows up with them about what was done—it builds trust and reinforces the value of reporting. Over time, employees are much more likely to continue reporting because they can see that their input makes a difference.
3. The Floor Knows Best: Why Frontline Workers Must Shape Your Procedures
When frontline workers view safety protocols as a hindrance to productivity, it usually indicates a design flaw in the protocol rather than a lack of commitment on the part of the employee. To bridge this gap, leadership must actively involve employees in designing safety procedures.
4. Linking Machine Reliability and Safety Through a Disciplined Preventative Maintenance Schedule
Equipment failures are a major driver of preventable industrial accidents. A proactive preventive maintenance (PM) strategy stops issues before they escalate.
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Audit safety-critical devices: Prioritize immediate checks on machine guards, emergency stop buttons, safety interlocks, alarms, and fire protection systems utilizing your company’s lock out tag out procedure.
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Service core production assets: Run routine maintenance on high-wear systems, including electrical panels, motors, conveyors, hydraulics, pneumatics, and rotating equipment.
5. Identifying Ergonomic Hazards Early to Reduce the Risk of Industrial Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)
According to Shane McAnally, ergonomics stands out as the most significant emerging safety risk in industrial manufacturing. Driven by an aging workforce and heavy physical tasks, awkward postures and manual material handling create severe risks for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which remain among the most common industrial injuries.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, true safety isn't achieved by reacting to accidents after they happen, but by actively listening to the signals your facility already provides. By tracking meaningful leading indicators and treating your safety roadmap as a collaborative effort, your facility can move from a culture of compliance to a culture of care.
Toolbox Written by: Shane McAnally
Project Safety Technician, SMC
Shane McAnally specializes in managing safety projects, training, and developing industrial safety content. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Safety from the University of Central Missouri, he started his career as a safety intern at a cement manufacturing facility in Eastern Oregon where he would work his way to becoming the Plant Safety Manager. In this position, he became comfortable with the MSHA handbook and was trained as a part 46 certified miner.
These experiences have shaped his areas of focus into OSHA/MSHA interpretation, training, program development, incident investigation, and physical inspection.