Gearing Up For Safety

Every supervisor has heard all of the standard excuses. “The glasses give me headaches.” “The shoes pinch my toes.” “This hard hat is too heavy.”

What do you say to people who give you these excuses for not wearing personal protective equipment?  Do you force them to wear it and then have to police them every day?

Here are some ideas on how to motivate your workers to wear their protective equipment:

• Make sure you believe in the use of protective equipment yourself.  If you don’t wear your glasses, you can’t really expect your subordinates to do so.
• Explain to your employees why the equipment is necessary. Sometimes a simple explanation is all that is necessary. At other times you may need to cover details, such as past accidents, near misses, the hazards of new equipment as well as the cost of accidents—especially to the injured party
• Let your employees select their protective equipment. Give them a choice of shoe style, hardhat color, or eyeglass frames. Workers tend to have pride or a sense of ownership in something that they have chosen as opposed to something that was forced on them. They will wear it more often with less resistance. They will also take better care of the equipment.
• Be firm about the use of the equipment.  Pat employees on the back when you see them wearing their glasses or putting on their safety shoes.
• Use disciplinary measures to keep workers safe if necessary. Don’t let even one employee get away with not wearing the equipment. Give a firm warning first; then take more serious steps.

All it takes is for you to educate your employees. If you make them believe that they really ought to wear personal protective equipment, they will.