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    May 11, 2023

    What Are The 5 E’s of Workplace Safety?

    Developing a new framework for safety performance improvement requires a comprehensive program with safety best practices, risk management, workplace safety management policies, and effective safety leadership. However, for you to gain the knowledge of these elements, it will likely require extra effort in understanding the 5 E's of safety - education, encouragement, engineering, enforcement, and evaluation. 

    Education

    Education is a significant part of your strategy that will ensure you promote a safe environment and workplace. It involves the teachings about safety rules and creates awareness of the benefits and goals of safety in your community and workplace. Education informs you on workplace safety practices, and gives you the chance to exercise what you've learned.

    Encouragement

    The PBIC, in collaboration with SRTS experts, discusses how encouragement is all about being safe and fun. This is just one of the main strategies that safety specialists use to secure interests in the field of workplace health and safety. It helps build a safety program and enthusiasm. 

    Engineering

    Simply put, engineering helps you create a safe working environment. You can combine it with education and encouragement to address the specific needs of your company's environmental, health and safety (EHS) program. It's a broad concept used to describe the design, development, implementation, operation and maintenance of both quality control programs and physical safety measures of employees. 

    Enforcement

    Enforcement is a key component of work and environmental safety as it reinforces the laws that serve to protect you. The primary role of enforcement is to reduce incidents, save lives, and facilitate a hazard-free and efficient work environment. This strategy helps open the line of communication between you and the law enforcement authority, ensuring adequate training and reporting of incidents and operational risks.

    Evaluation

    You can combine engineering, encouragement, enforcement and education strategies to address certain challenges facing your organization. It's used to determine if the aims of the strategies are being met and ensures that safety resources are used to meet a sustainable business environment. 

    Benefits of evaluation include:

    • Setting reasonable expectations about what your EHS program can do
    • Determines if the safety program is creating the desired results
    • Identifies changes that will improve your EHS program