Safety shouldn’t stop at quitting time. There are at least three good, practical reasons your company should encourage employees to practice safety at home as well as at work:
- Paying attention to safety at all times makes safety a habit and builds a good “safety attitude.”
- Preventing accidents at home means fewer lost work days and fewer employees who can’t do their work properly because of off-the-job injuries.
- An off-the-job death or serious injury to an employee or family member is a real tragedy that will affect co-workers and your company as a whole.
What are the top five causes of fatal accidents at home? This is a question you can ask employees to lead off a training session. According to the Home Safety Council, the answer is:
- Falls
- Poisoning (ingesting or inhaling toxic substances)
- Fires
- Suffocation (often involving choking on food)
- Drowning
Interestingly, the five leading causes of nonfatal injuries are not the same. Falls still leads the list but poisoning moves to # 5. In between are striking or being struck by an object (# 2); cuts (# 3); and overexertion, such as sustaining back injuries and muscle pulls (# 4).
The list of parallels between home hazards and workplace hazards is almost endless. Make it a standard part of your safety presentations to discuss how safety training at work should be practiced at home, as well.