Workplace health and safety is not a topic to be overlooked within a company. To allow employees to work in a healthy and safe environment, standards must be set, applied, and especially communicated to all internal staff and external partners of the company.
Benefits of effective communication within your company
Internal communication is a vital element in promoting your company's strategy. It influences team performance, hence your financial gains, and also the quality of life of your employees. It's essential to use the right tools for your communication and derive the best benefits from them.
Enrichment of company culture
The company culture is the identity reference that brings together the collaborators of the same company. Everything starts with them: the way they experience their daily professional life, the consideration they receive from the company, and the values the company imparts to them. The goal is to create a sense of belonging and a shared story, allowing the company to stand out against the competition.
Employee involvement
Effective internal communication should convey the company's values, its goals, and provide meaning to the teams' work. Every action taken by an employee has a purpose within a specific project and goal. This will make the teams proud once those goals are achieved, and they will be even more determined and motivated.
Better quality of work-life
Stress and other issues affect many employees. Ensuring a healthy and safe working environment is essential not only for their well-being but also for their productivity. Offering them a safety workshop can reassure them about the measures taken within the company and involve them in implementing and adhering to standards, especially safety and health ones.
Employee retention
Just as an employee can decide to leave an organization, they can choose to stay. The overall work atmosphere within the company heavily influences such decisions: the tasks assigned to them, their monthly salary and benefits, their relationship with colleagues, etc. Internal communication also plays a significant role in employee decisions: if done correctly, it will involve them more in the company's life and rally them around shared values.
Decreased team turnovers
As mentioned earlier, internal communication allows employee retention. Naturally, there will be fewer departures, leading to less change in teams. Decreased personnel turnover ensures consistent project tracking and consistent productivity.
Enhancing the organization's image
A company where employees remain engaged projects a positive external image. Through its projects and external collaborations, it suggests a work-life, well-organized collective projects, and strong team cohesion, thanks to effective internal communication.
Ease of recruitment
Sharing recruitment expectations and goals through internal communication multiplies its efficiency. Employees become ambassadors for this recruitment. In some companies, they might even receive a bonus for successful referrals.
Improvement in productivity
Good internal communication is a positive feedback loop in which collaborators are engaged and involved. Good relationships between colleagues and departments strengthen the organization: they will not want to leave and will continue to invest themselves.
Why merely talking about health and safety is not enough
A good workplace health and safety strategy provides significant benefits to both the company and its teams:
- Protecting employees through optimal working conditions;
- Reducing costs caused by sick leaves and accidents;
- Strengthening team cohesion;
- Indicating good management.
It is essential to discuss these and ensure everyone has the same level of information. Corporate internal communication is crucial for implementing and applying these standards. Workplace health and safety concerns everyone in the establishment: be it employees, external collaborators, or visitors. Involving employees in setting rules and, more importantly, adhering to them is vital as they will feel more concerned and be more vigilant. Sanctions can be implemented if they are not adhered to.
For the topic not to remain just an instruction and become tangible for employees, the employer should, among other things:
- Implement safety devices;
- Display prevention information and update them as needed;
- Provide employees with the appropriate personal protective equipment according to their profession;
- Ensure the maintenance of safety equipment;
- Offer safety and health training;
- Implement work procedures that ensure the sanitary and physical safety of teams.
Ways to improve your health and safety communication
Internal communication is vital to help teams understand the importance of workplace health and safety. This is as much an obligation of the employee as of the employer. Merely talking about sanitary and safety culture is not always enough; practical implementation can be more effective. Here are some points that can help emphasize the importance of workplace health and safety:
- Train staff on workplace safety: VR trainings can be offered to facilitate employee scheduling. They can train online while experiencing real cases virtually without any risks;
- Display safety instructions and best practices at work: they should be visible and clearly posted in common areas of the organization. They can specify whether the instruction is permanent or temporary, the context in which it applies, the procedures to follow, and the emergency number to contact;
- Organize safety meetings: they can be held weekly and should be short. These are sharing sessions to remind safety instructions, reiterate roles and responsibilities, and especially discuss any incidents that might have occurred between two sessions;
- Involve employees: for everyone to feel responsible for health and safety issues, the best way is to involve the collaborators. They are the best placed to know what they need to maintain a pleasant general work environment both for their psychological and mental state;
- Organize safety training sessions:
- First aid training;
- Awareness of night work and vigilance behind the wheel;
- Fall prevention training to learn to avoid dangerous situations;
- Etc.
IMMERSIVE FACTORY - your partner for safety in your company
Come discover the training offered by IMMERSIVE FACTORY. They are tailored to your safety needs and will help you prepare your collaborators to face any situation without endangering them, thanks to immersive workshops available in VR or on PC.