How many people have been hurt in your workplace in the past 30 days?

 

Some contractors measure and promote the number of accident-free days they achieve on site.

 

It’s a noble aspiration, and something every Health & Safety Director would understandably want to celebrate. Which site would you rather work on: the one with or without accidents?

 

But our research suggests that such an accolade may conceal – even contribute to – a deeper problem.

 

In our data collected from construction sites, we've found that the strongest indicator of best-in-class safety practices is an internal reinforcement culture, which is about worker attitudes to enforcement actions.

 

We see examples of this on sites where workers welcome safety advice and corrections from other workers and feel comfortable telling other workers when they can work more safely.

 

We also see it in worker attitudes to management enforcement where workers generally feel that corrective actions – even in the form of yellow or red cards – are fair and in their best interests.

 

The trouble with accident-free scores is that they disincentivise people from reporting accidents in the first place. Who would want to be the person who ruins such a hard-won record?

 

That said, we do understand that celebrating achievement is an important part of building and maintaining an effective, self-assured team and making your site a great place to work.

 

Getting workers bought into your reinforcement culture so they proactively report more issues more often and then tracking those stats could be an effective alternative.

 

The Worker Feedback Club platform empowers anybody – even those who wish to remain anonymous – to report problems directly to site management. The Management Cockpit then shows managers reporting topics, resolution times and satisfaction rates. Getting plenty of reports isn’t a bad thing; it’s the sign of an engaged workforce.