Don’t Fall Victim To Zero Accident Work Culture

When we see those “Days Without An Accident” signs at job sites, we probably view them a little differently than company management. While we all want employees to stay safe on the job, sometimes companies that are overzealous about promoting zero accident workplace culture can actually end up harming their employees. It really comes down to how these companies work to ensure another day passes without an on the job injury. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at some of the good and the bad ways that companies can promote zero accident workplace culture, and we explain why some of these tactics can be harmful to employees.

Positive Ways To Promote Zero Accident Work Culture

Listen, we’re all on the same page when it comes to making sure that employees stay safe on the job. However, how businesses go about achieving this and promoting this ideology is important. Signs of a healthy workplace accident culture include:

Regular safety/education training
Setting realistic productivity standards
Having equipment serviced within recommended guidelines
Stressing the importance of injury reporting
Ensuring employees have the proper safety equipment for their tasks

We don’t mind promoting your safe workplace when you’re doing all of the above. The problem occurs when companies focus too much on the end result and not enough on the process to achieve said result. We’ll explain what we mean by this in the next section.

Problematic Ways To Promote Zero Accident Work Culture

Conversely, if your company does some of the things on this list, it can actually end up being harmful to the health of their employees. Doing one of these things doesn’t not automatically make them guilty, but if you feel that your company does a few of these things, really take a step back and evaluate your safety at this company.

Regularly champions how many days it’s been without a work accident
Not documenting injuries the day they occur to see if an employee improves in the short-term
Making employees feel like they should not report their injury and end the current accident-free streak
Not adopting changes after a preventable on-the-job injury
Not adhering to OSHA guidelines
Insinuating or outwardly threatening repercussions for employees that report an injury

The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of businesses are great at promoting workplace safety in a healthy manner, but unfortunately that’s not true for every single business. There are companies out there that view their employees solely in terms of their productivity, and if they can make an employee more productive by cutting safety corners, they may do that.

If you believe that you’re going to run into some issues for reporting your work injury, know that you have an ally in the team at Margolis Law Firm. Don’t let your company bully, intimate or mislead you when it comes to your employee rights. Even if it means resetting the “Days Without An Accident” counter back down to zero, you need to do what’s right for you, your family and your fellow employees.

For assistance with this process or for answers to any questions you may have, reach out to Dean and the team at Margolis Law Firm today at (952) 230-2700.