The Benefits of a Positive Safety Mindset at Work

Safety on the job is about more than just putting rules and regulations in place. Having a positive approach to those rules and regulations, otherwise known as a positive safety mindset, is what truly makes your place of work a safer environment. Here are some of the benefits of a positive safety mindset at work.

Positive Safety Mindset: A Definition

When we talk about a “positive safety mindset”, what does this actually mean? It can be a challenge to define this in terms that are quantifiable, but it’s not impossible. Put simply, a positive mindset, when it comes to workplace safety, is all about choosing to put safety first, even in the face of competing interests.

“Competing interests” means all competing interests. This includes efficiency, productivity, and profitability, and in a capitalist economy this doesn’t seem to make much sense at first until you realize that it makes the most sense, and it’s the most beneficial to any company in the long run. Here’s why.

What a Positive Safety Mindset Brings to the Table

It’s absolutely true that placing safety above everything else can and often does inhibit a company’s ability to produce goods and services as quickly as possible. However, the benefits of maintaining a positive safety mindset across an entire workforce bring much more to the table than it takes away.

Workers who wake their time and ensure their jobs are done according to established safety guidelines are much less likely to be involved in an incident that leads to the types of injuries that leave them sidelined for weeks and months. Workers out on injury can’t contribute to the overall productivity of their employer, resulting in worse profitability than if they simply took their time and got the job done right.

Building a Positive Safety Mindset

If you want to unlock the benefits of a positive safety mindset in your business, it’s a top-down approach. Stakeholders, managers, and supervisors all adopting the same mindset create an expectation that the rest of a company’s workforce will follow, and consistently reinforcing the company’s commitment to safety above all else from the highest on down has a profound effect on front-line workers.

It this leadership by example that makes the most impact. Coordinate this with renewed, robust, and clear bilateral communication between workers and management to discuss safety concerns and for the development of newer, better, and safer rules and regulations, and a positive safety mindset will blossom and grow at your company as well.

The Last Word on the Positive Safety Mindset

The old adage says that you’ll get more flies with honey than you will with vinegar. Workplace safety rules say that you need to keep lids tight on all honey and vinegar containers and to keep condiments stored safely in the break room, but you get the idea. Take a positive, proactive, and comprehensive approach to safety and you’ll reap the benefits at work.