Why do smaller contractors and companies have such a problem running an effective safety program?

Large companies use age old tried and true methods to deal with employees. These methods are normally not used in smaller companies because they have not set up a structure or set of rules to follow that make a company wide program work.

Many small business owners have built a successful business by being the type of person that doesn’t ‘follow the crowd’. They are risk takers and aggressively go after what they want. They are typically not people who like to follow rules.

This mindset that builds a small company can work against the business as it grows. Large organizations have built their success by implementing rules and systems that work to encourage employee participation and individual ownership in working to keep employees and the workplace safe. And here are a couple of very important things you can do to build your own program.

Remember, rules apply to everybody:

When a company initially sets up a safety program the rules that need to be followed typically come from OHSA regulations and information from their Workers Compensation carrier. Don’t fight the rules. You can’t beat the government, especially OSHA. Don’t complain or criticize the need to have to supply or buy safety equipment. Publicly, in front of your employees, always take a positive attitude about changes that need to be made.

Wearing a hardhat is commonplace and well accepted, but other rules such as the mandatory use of safety glasses or respirators in certain situations can be seen as tedious and unnecessary by yourself. If you pass this attitude on to your employees, you’ve started a losing battle.

Even if you don’t like the rules and extra expense, realize that you need to think of the future of your company. Send a positive message to your employees by telling them that the OSHA rules that need to be followed are there because of accidents that have happened in the past. And while the risk might be small, it is very much better to be safe than sorry.

Speak in terms of how you would hate to see anyone accidentally injured or be disabled by not following the rules. Tell your people that you recognize that it is inconvenient at first, but that like everything else in life it is something that a person will quickly become accustomed to.

Safety rules will quickly become second nature to your people if you send the right message. And the primary thing to remember is that you need to let everyone know in no uncertain terms that these rules apply to everyone, no exceptions.

Do not allow a visitor or other non job site employees into work areas without wearing the same protection that is required of the workers. The number one rule to make a safety program work is that the rules apply to everybody, all the time.

Recognize compliance through a visual program:

Hard hat stickers make a perfect method to visually reinforce your company’s safety program. The metrics that you use to define the system are not the items that are important. They could be hours or days worked without a job injury, number of safety inspections passed by each employee or employee group, or any other measurement that you may want to use.

The important thing is that you and your company has a system that positively passes on the message that the company is running their safety program so that employees are not hurt or injured. And that the company is proud of the contribution that all employees make that further the success of the program.

Give out hard hat decals that show that the employees are part of your group. Be sure to do this on a regular basis such as at monthly or bi-weekly meetings.

What you need to do is to pass on the message to all that you, as the owner, are concerned about safety first. Not about the cost of a safety program or loss of profits. You can easily do this just by changing your mindset.

When you do you will find that you reap the same rewards as large companies. By putting your employees and their safety first, you’ll see improved attitudes and improved work performance. Follow these tips and you’ll see that you can make your safety program work for you and your company.

Photo Attribution

Step 1. Determine your company message and brand. What sets your company apart? How are you different or how would like to be perceived as different from your competitors? If your marketing and advertising just shows you as offering the same services as ‘all the other companies’ out there you are wasting your branding time and money.

You must decide to implement and promote one or more aspects of your business that your customers will see as making you better than other companies of your type. Take the time to find positive statements that make up your company brand. Don’t fall into the trap of just saying you ‘provide better service’. Find a short succinct bullet point line that says why you provide better service. These short points will work well on your hardhat decals.

Step 2. Get ideas from whomever you can. Talk to your employees, customers and suppliers. Make up your list of the branding ideas or points that are the strengths of your company. These items must be actual items, products or services you provide that your competitors either don’t supply, or that you can show that you significantly outshine them with your practices.

It is important that you have specific items that your customers will remember that set you apart. For example, if your company installs swimming pools, don’t say ‘Highest Quality Materials Always Used’, rather say ‘No Rust Ever – All Stainless Parts’. Make the items specific. If it sounds like you do something that your competitors may not do, that is even better.

Step 3. Incorporate these in your marketing material. Constantly remind yourself, your employees and your potential and current customers of your branding points. One of the least expensive and most effective ways to get your message in front of everyone’s eyes is to use hardhat decals. Even custom made hard hat stickers are very inexpensive. You can put your branding points on every hard hat in your company for pennies each.

Ideally you should be able to break down your message and branding points into 5 or 6 short bullet items that you and your employees can repeat at the drop of the hat. For your hard hat stickers, this may mean a tasteful graphic and just the 5 or 6 main words that identify your brand.

Step 4. Meet with your employees. Explain to them the idea of branding. Tell them how it will help not only the company but the employees themselves as they prosper along with you. Give them additional hardhat decals to use on their toolboxes, portable machines. Supply extras that can be used anywhere else you can tastefully get your effective branding message into the sight of others.

Step 5. Rinse and Repeat. Use secondary promotions to tie in more completely with your potential customers. While it is necessary to have your primary advertising and marketing program continually selling your main branding ideas that show how you are better than your competition, you should also constantly look for secondary branding ideas that are current or that arise as situations change.

One current example of this is the environmental ‘green’ movement. Once you have your primary branding program in place, it is easy to come up with a second set of reasons why your company is better and tie it in with a current social movement that the majority of your market agrees with.

Also consider local issues that your customers might have a high interest in and pass the message along to them that you agree and are helping. One example of this would be companies that now are in areas that affected by the Gulf oil spill. You can use hardhat stickers to tell your potential customers how your company will help them or help your community.

You can use all these methods with your regular advertising but for the most cost effective use and the most bang for your buck be sure to spend the few extra dollars to paste your message everywhere in your company by using hardhat decals.

Quickly Identify OSHA Trained Employees: This is ideal where OSHA requires that only certified and trained employees operate certain types of equipment such as forklifts or loaders or cranes. And you can also use hardhat stickers to identify the proper employees who have completed the necessary training to perform tasks such as working with lock out/tag out or hazardous materials.

ID the Different Trades on Your Construction Sites: With stickers to identify the different work groups and even sub-contractors on a job site you can easily see who belongs to which group. This can help speed up work flow since your people can quickly find somebody of another trade when they need to. It also helps maintain security keeping anyone away from areas where they are not authorized.

Show Your Commitment and That of Your Employees to Safety: Stickers encouraging safety practices or participation in your safety program are an excellent way to keep this important concern in front of your people at all times. Consider using hardhat decals that state the accident free time an employee has had such as ‘one year accident free’ or ‘five year accident free’ and so on.

The perfect time to award new hard hat stickers to employees is at one of your company’s major annual events. This lends credence to the company’s commitment to safety and gives your employees confidence that everyone from the top down is dedicated and involved in the safety program.

Save Time and Provide Information in Emergencies: Identify your First Aid qualified and emergency response people with stickers that will allow them to be instantly recognizable in the case of an accident or other emergency. And many companies use stickers that are applied inside the hard hat that has emergency phone numbers and contact information and also can be used to record any special medical concerns an individual employee might have.

Having this critical and important information available instantly in the case of an accident or medical emergency can be of vital help to the people responding. This method is truly inexpensive insurance that will give people on the scene immediate confirmation on how to proceed.

These are just a few of the ways that you can use hardhat stickers to the benefit of both your company and employees. The few cents that a decal costs is trivial compared to the visibility and usefulness you gain from their use.

Hard hat decals have been around for years, but often many company management teams fail to recognize the true value in having them as a part of their personal protection equipment. To prove this valuable point and to drive home the safety added value, take any sign, license plate, roadside sign, real estate yard sign or even a bumper sticker, if you see it you can’t help but read it. Stickers and decals are no exception to this emphatic point of it being read. Whether you place hard hat stickers on the front, the side, or even on the back of your hard hat, you are sending out a message that is sure to be read. Stickers and decals can actually be a trademark for your personal interests or even make a statement about who you are. When people see hard hat stickers they read them, and when they read the stickers, they stick in their brain, period. Therefore, stickers or decals are very important and added value to your safety program.

If you are a part of a union, maybe pipe fitters, iron workers, trade union, or whatever group, club, or trade, you should display it with stickers. Many new construction sites are seen as a group of workers that involve several trades, all working together to construct a new building or complex. To display the different trades or even display your employees by name, why not use hard hat stickers to give everyone the benefit of knowing who there are talking to or hearing from. The ability to know people by name, using stickers or decals to put their name on their hard hat is a great communication tool without anyone really knowing it.