How Seriously Do Your Workers Take Safety?

Good safety attitudes:

• Protect workers from hazards
• Reduce accident and injury rates
• Promote compliance with OSHA regulations
• Help prepare employees to deal with emergencies
• Improve the work environment, making your workplace a safer, healthier place to work

When employees have a good safety attitude, they:

• Take responsibility for their safety
• Have a genuine concern for the safety and well-being of their co-workers
• Feel a duty to maintain a safe work environment
• Keep informed about safety issues
• Pay attention during safety meetings
• Participate in safety discussions
• Follow safety policies and procedures
• Know how to identify hazards and how to protect against those hazards

When employees have bad or indifferent safety attitudes, they may:

• Be complacent about safety, not caring about safety meetings or learning about safety in general
• Cut corners in order to get things done easily or quickly
• Have a careless disregard for safety rules and procedures
• Fail to wear required PPE when the supervisor's back is turned
• Act recklessly because they either forget or don't care that their actions could harm someone else
• Engage in horseplay
• Come to work fatigued or hung over

Worker Safety Attitude Assessment
To the best of your knowledge, do your employees:

• Understand the hazards of their jobs?
• Know safety policies and rules that apply to their job?
• Always follow safety rules and procedures?
• Consider themselves members of a team and take responsibility for their own and co-workers' safety?
• Come to work rested and ready to work safely?
• Wear required PPE without fail?
• Avoid distractions and concentrate on their work?
• Keep alert while they work for anything that could go wrong?
• Report hazards?
• Report accidents and near misses?
• Refrain from engaging in horseplay?
• Refrain from taking shortcuts?
• Encourage safe behavior in co-workers?
• Attend safety meetings and training sessions?
• Apply what they learn in training on the job?

-Participate in discussions about workplace safety?

• Make suggestions for improving safety?
• Ask questions about any hazards or procedures they don't understand?
• Practice safety at home, using PPE and other precautions they use at work when necessary?
• Make an effort to keep healthy and fit?
• Take advantage of wellness programs sponsored by your organization?