By S3 Technologies
Every year in the United States, more than 312,000 workers are injured on the job, more than 60,000 contract illnesses because of workplace conditions, and nearly 350 more lose their lives due to workplace injuries. The manufacturing industry has the second-highest number of work injuries and illnesses, surpassed only by the healthcare and social assistance sectors.
There are many causes of illness and injuries in the workplace. These include falls from high places, slippery floors, or objects on the floor; accidents involving forklifts and improperly safeguarded machinery; electrical hazards; muscle strain and repetitive-motion injuries; and exposure to toxic substances.
Companies are responsible for following OSHA regulations to help protect the safety of their employees. However, even when businesses do everything right, worker safety can be compromised if employees don’t take the necessary precautions to protect themselves. As a result, employers face increased expenses, lost productivity, and lower employee morale.
Safety Awareness
Employee safety is important in all industries. Awareness of hazards and how to avoid situations empowers employees to take action for their own safety and those around them. Awareness is the first crucial step. If your team is unaware of the dangers in their workplace or what to do to avoid them, they will not be able to take steps to keep safe.
Increasing safety awareness is essential for businesses. Protecting employees from injury and illness improves productivity and work quality. It also reduces absenteeism and raises employee morale.
Managers who promote safety face certain challenges. Compared to typical office workers, production employees cannot easily be reached by email. They also may not take the time or have the inclination to stop and read notices posted on bulletin boards. And they may tend to avoid information from management altogether.
There are several ways to present these messages, including:
- OSHA resources,
- Training videos,
- Formal classroom training,
- Peer-to-peer training,
- Worksite demonstrations,
- Infomercials,
- Tally of accident-free days,
- Safety reminders,
- Motivational phrases, and
- Digital signage.
Digital Signage
Digital signage is an effective way to provide safety awareness messages in a format that is accessible and easy to absorb.
Digital signage is also an extremely cost-effective solution that can be managed in-house. Screens can be mounted in places where even the busiest workers will see them. When distributed throughout a facility, information is visible wherever workers are as they move around on the job, reinforcing safety messaging.
By using digital signage to increase employee awareness of safety problems and how to prevent accidents, employers can increase attendance rates, productivity, and worker morale.
Types of Messaging
Digital signage can effectively raise awareness about important safety concerns, including compliance and performance. Since digital signage is quickly and easily updateable, messaging can address a variety of issues, such as:
- Personal protective equipment: minimizes exposure to hazardous substances and infectious diseases.
- Lockout/Tagout: OSHA-required practices and procedures for disabling machinery and equipment to prevent hazardous energy release.
- Equipment safety and guarding: physical barriers that enclose dangerous machine parts to prevent workers from coming in contact with them.
- Preventing falls: cleaning up spills, removing obstacles in walkways, and using safe procedures when working on ladders or higher levels.
- Fire safety: when and how to use fire extinguishers, removing damaged cords or cables, avoiding outlet overload, fire exit strategies, and equipment upkeep.
- Safety procedures for confined spaces.
- Hazards: notice of dangerous chemicals and other substances.
- Warehouse safety: procedures for lifting and moving heavy objects and safe practices around conveyor belts.
- Tow motor safety: loading, driving, and working near forklifts.
- Emergency preparedness: responding to fire and other emergencies.
- Equipment inspection: procedures necessary for accident prevention.
- Situational awareness: how to respond to unexpected events.
- Safe lifting: avoid back and other muscle injuries
- Waste reduction: preventing the buildup of hazardous substances.
- Fatigue: how it can lead to dangerous errors of judgment.
- Distractions: dangers of not focusing on the task at hand.
- Near-miss accidents: what could happen the next time.
- Complacency: how it jeopardizes safety.
S3 Technologies has helped many companies successfully implement internal communication systems using different types of technology, including digital signage. S3 Technologies is Northeast Ohio’s foremost technology specialist. With a decade of expertise and a dedicated team, S3 delivers complete technology solutions, including security, audio-visual, networking, and emerging tech for educational and government centers, local and national businesses, senior living facilities, and a variety of commercial and industrial applications.
