Safety Programs for Small Business
You’re a business owner. Which means you are also a trainer, a motivator, a salesperson, a cleaner, a labourer, a stockperson, an order taker, and order giver, a supervisor, a negotiator, and a health and safety manager… Wait? What?
That’s right, as an employer you must;
“a) ensure the health and safety of
(i) all workers working for that employer and
(ii) any other workers present at a workplace at which that employer’s work is being carried out…”
Enough has been said about due diligence and why owners and supervisors should be afraid, so I won’t spend much time beating that subject to death. Instead, I want to focus on a conversation I had with one WorkSafeBC Occupational Safety Officer regarding the topic of small business safety efforts. The following points were extracted from our conversation:
Obstacles to Small Business Safety Programs:
Money:
Larger companies can afford to hire managers for health and safety, but can Joe’s Construction Ltd? Of course not, Joe is just treading water, and he might sink if he doesn’t get paid for the last job, a safety manager is the last thing on his mind. But what if something happens to one of Joe’s workers? How will he prove that he has been duly diligent? The good news is that proving that he was duly diligent is not as expensive or arduous as Joe might think.
Lack of Training and Accountability:
If you polled your workforce and asked who of your loyal employees were supervisors; how many would you have? Would they know they were supervisors? Would they know their roles and responsibilities in regards to safety? According to the Occupational Safety Officer I spoke with, not understanding one’s responsibilities in the eyes of the Workers’ Compensation Act is a huge problem in both large and small businesses.
According to the Workers’ Compensation Act, a “supervisor” means a person who instructs, directs and controls workers in the performance of their duties;” If this describes any number of people within your company, perhaps it’s time to make it clear who your supervisors are.
Solutions:
So what can you do to overcome these obstacles? The key is in framing the problem in another way. Instead of looking at a safety program as a nebulous and vague concept that’s going to cut deeply into your bottom line ask, “what can I do today to ensure that I can prove my due diligence if needed?” According to the Occupational Safety Officer I spoke with, this is not exceedingly difficult.
Make sure your supervisors know that they are supervisors. Make sure that they understand what it means to be a supervisor; have them read part 3 of the Workers’ Compensation Act, better yet, go over it together. It is essential that these responsibilities are taken seriously and that documentation is in place to back this up.
Supervisory skills are not innately gifted onto your most experienced workers or those with the strongest work ethic. Supervisory skills are like and other set of skills. They need to be demonstrated, practiced, and honed. Supervisory training can be done through mentorships, online, or in a classroom setting. Make sure that your supervisors know how to handle key supervisory duties like disciplining, training, and journaling.
Record keeping and documentation isn’t expensive. It isn’t even time consuming. Did you have a toolbox talk? You didn’t unless you wrote it down. A well-kept journal is worth its weight in gold when a supervisor is in front of an appeal tribunal. Journals don’t need to be epic tomes, they just need to contain enough detail to say what happened and when.
Consistency:
Implement all of the above consistently. Hold your supervisors accountable regularly and remind them of their responsibilities. Take the time to train your workers and make sure new workers are trained the same standard. Document all of your safety efforts and document consistently.
Summary:
What we’ve discussed hear might sound familiar to some. The concept of due diligence certainly isn’t a new one, and the challenges small companies face with maintaining adequate safety programs will likely be around for a while. Just remember that in a world where business owners need to do more with less, safety cannot be thrown by the wayside. Implement the suggestions above to start and you will be on your way to building a practical small-business safety program.
Links:
Workers’ Compensation Act: WCA