4/26/2011 Teamwork in Safety

TEAMWORK IN SAFETY

Whether in the sports arena or in the workplace, the most effective results come from people who realize that their goal is best achieved by teamwork. Injury preventing teamwork on the job consists of a combination of thoughtfulness and responsibility—for co-workers’ safety as well as your own. For example:

* Lending a hand when asked, or offering help when noticing a need. This also helps to reduce workplace stress, and you may even feel good about helping out.
* Cleaning up a mess or spill that you cause—but even doing it for someone else’s mess in order to keep anyone from getting hurt.
* Leaving your work area and equipment in safe condition for the next shift
* Turning in a defective tool for repair
* Reminding a co-worker of safe behavior (such as putting on safety glasses)
* Reporting a potentially hazardous condition to your supervisor

Here’s what company managers have said about the importance of teamwork:

* “It takes everyone working together cooperatively for everyone to be truly safe.”
* “Teamwork means taking the time to show someone else the safe way to do a job and asking for help if you are not sure what to do.”
* “Cooperation of this sort is necessary because we’re all in this together—in life itself—and life, like work, is not only safer and more productive but even more fun when we cooperate.”

But it’s not just the brass who feel strongly about teamwork and safety. Here’s what employees at a company with a zero-accident goal had to say:

* “The secret is personal commitment and communication, and looking out for one another, too.” (office worker)
* “Anybody who does something unsafe in the shop gets jumped on by the rest of us—but never maliciously or to downgrade the person. We police one another because we care about one another.” (welder)
* “I’ve learned that safety is a two-way street: The worker has to be involved, but the go-ahead from the top is essential.” (mechanic)

So, What do you have to say about safety on the job? Ask yourself, Are you a safety team player?