Without profit, your employer would have a difficult time keeping you on the payroll. Sometimes, to increase profits, bosses and supervisors will add pressure to work faster.
It can be challenging for businesses to walk the fine line between productivity and safety. However, when it comes to your well-being, it is essential to have ample time to be safe at work.
This is what you should know about making sure you have time to follow the safety protocols at work.
Creating realistic expectations
As owners and upper management become more detached from the everyday work, their expectations can become idealistic or completely unrealistic. You can help management understand the time it takes to do your job by giving them information regarding how long it takes to do safety-related tasks, such as:
- Putting on and taking off safety gear
- Analyzing safety data
- Cleaning spills and other hazards
It may also help to demonstrate some safety procedures to give a concrete understanding of why the task takes a certain amount of time.
Be part of coordinating quality training
Sometimes training becomes a box to check off instead of providing a thorough education on how and why specific procedures are in place. In some cases, employers want to skip steps to save time; in other cases, the trainers do not take the class seriously and gloss over essential subjects.
When you consider the training you and your coworkers go through, pay attention to whether there are deficiencies. You should talk to your supervisor or manager about your concerns so that they can implement a more robust safety training protocol.
Depending on your workplace, you may need to speak with your employer or ask your union representative to speak on your behalf. When you and your employer can work together on establishing quality training, it can save time and money by preventing work-related injuries. If your employer is not willing to work with you, you may need to reach out to Cal/OSHA to help you implement changes.