How To Create A Culture Of Safety In The Workplace

Business owners and managers can prevent workplace accidents. To do so, you need to establish a proper safety program. Drug testing, for both prospective and current employees, plays a large role in developing a solid safety culture workplace. According to OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, post-incident drug testing is not prohibited. The memo which states this fact also points out that the best way to encourage a safer workplace is by having a reporting system in place, coupled with proper training and random drug screening protocols. In this post, you will learn how to create a culture of safety in the workplace.

Main Causes Of Workplace Accidents

In general, there are three main reasons why accidents in the workplace occur. The first is overexertion. When workers attempt to lift items that are too heavy, they can hurt themselves. The next two causes involve equipment. Employees who work with pieces of equipment such as conveyor belts and other heavy machinery are prone to getting injured while on the job. For this reason, companies practice equipment safety. Business that do not utilize such equipment also deal with workplace accidents. Employees can get hurt in office settings as well. If they rush around on a wet floor, they could slip in a puddle. Their fall could lead to injury depending on the severity of the situation. When you add drugs and alcohol to the mix, the possibility of accidents occurring increases.

Developing Your Safety Culture Workplace

Fortunately, you can prevent workplace accidents easily. To do so, you need to develop a safety culture workplace plan. Create a written plan of action that rewards employees for identifying and pointing out hazards in the workplace. If a worker points out a puddle, then one of his or her colleagues is less likely to slip. Not forcing your workers to rush haphazardly through their days, as well as creating a random drug and alcohol testing policy, will also decrease the possibility for many of these accidents to occur. Ensure that every employee feels free and comfortable with speaking out. Then, they can bring any major issues to your attention before they get out of hand. More so, you can prevent business accidents and the losses they result in.

Substance Abuse Leads To Unsafe Conditions

An impaired worker can create a wide variety of accidents. After all, they are less likely to follow basic safety practices and protocols. Employees under the influence may lift things or perform functions they should not, injuring themselves in the process. Depending on the drug, their impairment may even endanger their coworkers. Your safety culture workplace plan must have codices that allow for random drug screenings.

It’s important to note that sending your employees to an outside lab for urine testing presents a greater opportunity for masking or cheating the drug test. Instead, in-house drug testing is recommended. Purchase drug testing supply kits from a trusted drug testing manufacture and industry leader such as Confirm Biosciences. Then, you can administer employee urine or saliva drug tests right in the workplace.

Conducting Random Drug Screenings

The law requires certain industries to randomly drug test employees. Workplace drug testing offers companies in industries across the board advantages. With this in mind, prioritize safety by putting drug and alcohol testing into practice even if your company does not fall under this legal code. As long as it is part of your safety culture workplace plan and incorporated into your employee handbook, your workers will expect random drug screenings.

Moreover, they will understand it is an added measure to ensure their safety. Both urine and saliva drug tests can give you results in minutes. Include selecting workers at random for testing to ensure that all workers are tested several times per year. Test employees who are suspected of attending work impaired as well. With a solid culture of safety in place, which allows your employees to report coworkers they suspect are impaired, you can proactively prevent accidents. Furthermore, you can create a safe working environment for everyone.

Testing After A Workplace Incident

It’s always important to know your legal options. OSHA has deemed that it is acceptable to conduct a drug test on an employee who has hurt him/herself in the workplace. According to the previous interpretations of the law, this fell under the “anti-retaliation” rule. This rule accused employers of using the tests to punish workers for getting hurt. Now, you can test an employee directly after an incident, especially if you suspect that your employee has been using drugs or drinking on the job. Using available urine dip or saliva swab test technology, you can perform the drug test right in the workplace and receive results within minutes rather than days. At the same time, you eliminate any accusations through administering a test immediately after the accident occurs.

The Importance Of Workplace Safety

Impaired employees can cause accidents to occur that injure themselves or their coworkers. Thus, they are an increased liability for your company. It is important to have the necessary drug and alcohol testing kits on hand. Then, you can conduct random and post-incident screenings as needed. It all comes down to creating and implementing the correct safety culture workplace plan and having complete cooperation throughout your organization to ensure everyone’s safety, health, and well-being.