It has been said that the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly in order to prevent overzealous government officials from passing any crazy law they want. It can be frustrating, but our government has those checks and balances in place to ensure that lawmakers have time for extensive deliberation before putting any plan into action.
This is the opposite of what you want when it comes to workplace safety. When it comes to implementing safety procedures, responding to emergencies, and training your employees, speed is of the utmost importance. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where something has caught on fire and nobody knows whose job it is to call 911.
Here are some points to keep in mind when developing your safety plan to ensure fast, informed response to emergency situations:
- Emergency response is first priority. Whoever is on the scene of an accident should generally be the person to call 911 and/or the on-site medical staff, and then brief everyone else on the situation. In some companies you might have a designated person, a security officer, a foreman, etc. who will make the call, but the more people you need to contact before making the call, the worse the situation is going to get.
- Emergency equipment should be immediately accessible. A first aid box mounted on the wall is a good start. Don't keep your bandages and smelling salts in a locked desk drawer somewhere on the third floor, make sure that employees are never more than a short walk away from fire extinguishers, first-aid, and the means to contact first responders.
- Brief all new employees immediately. If you schedule someone's safety briefing for a week after they start working, you might create a situation where they're left desperately asking their co-workers where you keep the band-aids or how to find the emergency exits. Extensive training can be scheduled as and when is convenient, but new employees should be given a basic-yet-comprehensive safety briefing on the morning of their first day.
A basic rule of thumb: try to make sure that, should something happen, nobody ever needs to ask anybody else "Well, now what do we do?" Keep your safety procedures simple and straightforward so that your people can move quickly in an emergency, and so that they're never confused about how to keep their work environment safe.