Getting To The Root Cause Of Poor Employee Attitudes Towards Flame Resistant Clothing Safety

Getting To The Root Cause Of Poor Employee Attitudes Towards Flame Resistant Clothing Safety

As an employer you have done all the right things. Invested in a comprehensive safety program, supplied your employees with top notch training and equipment and educated you leaders to promote a safe work culture. But you still struggle with employee compliance. Why won't your employee's embrace their flame resistant clothing? After all, the whole point of the safety program is to keep them, the worker safe!

Whether you have an existing safety program or are looking to implement a new program it is critical that you understand what will motivate your employees to participate. The truth is your employees do want to be safe and reluctance typically stems from one of five common elements.

Employees are typically resistant to safety requirements when:

There is a lack of training or education on the benefits of wearing flame resistant clothing

The equipment is not readily available, uncomfortable to work with or ineffective

The environment they work in does not truly embrace a safety culture

The expectations are unclear or inconsistent

Consistent and positive encouragement is not present from management

Education

Employees need proper and ongoing education. This is more than a short safety orientation as part of the hiring process. Each safety process must be explained in a way that the employee can understand that would require flame resistant clothing. In order to embrace the safety procedure the employee must be educated in the following. What is the hazard, how does that hazard directly affect the employee, how the employee can avoid/prevent that hazard from happening and what the consequences are for failing to avoid/prevent the hazard. If the employee truly understand the hazard she will be far more likely to take the right steps to keep herself safe.

Equipment

It is not enough to have a safety locker stocked with all the latest, ergonomically correct safety equipment. Employees must be proactively supplied with equipment that meets not only the safety requirements but is properly fitted and sized for the employee and appropriate for the task. Employees must also be supplied with the resources for maintaining the equipment. If the employee has to cross the shop floor to get their safety clothing, chances are they may try to get by on the job that requires the proper PPE.

Environment

Creating an environment that truly embraces safety is hard to accomplish. Having just one supervisor that continues to insist that "We don't need that. Why, back in my day..." can undermine your safety program from the start. So can the supervisor who fails to "walk the walk". Employees watch everything; ensure everyone (from the CEO down) embraces the safety culture and sends a consistent message to the workforce. This safety environment message should not just be words, but with actions. Letting just one client or salesperson on the job site without the appropriate flame resistant clothing tells your employees that safety is optional.

Expectation

Most critically, set clear and consistent expectations and consequences. An employee must know that there are no gray areas in the safety program. Allowing an employee, just once, to perform a job task without the correct FR clothing sends a clear message: "Safety is important, well most of time anyway". Consequences must be predefined and directly connected to the transgression. And you, as the employer or supervisor must be willing to follow through each and every time.

Encouragement

Finally, remember to encourage positive behavior and acknowledge progress and improvement of your employee´s. A simple reminder at the beginning of the work day goes a long way. The simple act of acknowledging that flame resistant clothing can, sometimes be cumbersome and or hot will tell your employees that you understand. Following this acknowledgement up with a reminder of why it is necessary will help keep everyone safe.

Will your employees ever embrace your safety program 100%? Hopefully. In the meantime, understanding these five simple "E's" will help you ensure you are moving in the right direction and it shows that you are serious and concerned about your workers well being.