When you think about health and safety in construction, likely the images that come to mind are safety harnesses, ear plugs, goggles and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that we use to keep ourselves safe in the workplace. However, although this equipment is very important, what is equally crucial is the behaviour of everyone in the workplace.

Health and Safety in Construction

All of the construction health and safety regulations and PPE in the world will not make a difference if the employees within your workplace do not follow the rules. Even one worker with an attitude of disregard for safety could be a huge danger to everyone else. Perhaps they want to cut corners to get the job done safely, or they don’t really believe that safety procedures are necessary. Either way, this type of attitude can be a serious problem and it needs to be dealt with.

How You Can Promote Safe Behaviour in the Workplace?

If you want to ensure that all of your employees have the right attitude toward health and safety in the workplace, there are a number of things that you can do. First of all, it starts with hiring the right people who have a respect for workplace safety and who have always upheld safety regulations in the past. When you are considering hiring an employee you can ask their previous references what their attitude toward health and safety was in their last position.

Construction Health and Safety Training

The next step is to ensure that all of your employees have the best construction health and safety training possible. Courses covering the basics of health and safety in construction will help them to understand the dangers of their particular position and the importance of safe working procedures. The training will mean that they know how to carry out tasks safely and how to respond in an emergency. This training will need to be updated every couple of years, so make sure that your employee’s training stays current.

Basic Construction Site Safety Course

Another way you can encourage the right attitude toward health and safety in construction is to provide incentives encouraging positive health and safety behaviour in your employees. For example, you could have a system of rewards in the workplace that you give out whenever you observe employees doing things safely. You could also give the entire workplace a reward when they reach a milestone, such as a full month without any health and safety incidents or accidents.

Incident/Accident Investigation Training

These are just a few ways that you can ensure your employees have the right behaviour and attitude toward health and safety in construction or any other industry.

When it comes to health and safety in construction or any other hazardous field, behaviour and attitude is just as important as safety equipment. Consider sending your construction site managers on the CITB SMSTS training and your construction site supervisors on the CITB SSSTS course.

Other Construction Health and Safety Courses

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