Most times, workers appreciate having Personal Protective Equipment at work. However, there may be many willing employees who would follow the instructions but having a stubborn one who would rather gamble with their safety is an added stress no one requires.
Encouraging your employees to wear prescription safety glasses can consume more time and effort, but it is still essential. You may have to take various approaches to convince your staff for the use of PPE. Out of different methods, some may work on one and not on others, and all methods, when applied together, are then stronger. Show your staff how the company truly values employees’ safety beyond compliance.
Here’s how you can get them into wearing safety glasses while at work:
Educate employees
Your employees might not be wearing safety glasses because they are not aware of its importance. Employees can also have false risk perception, which stops them from wearing safety gear at work. Educating them about health and safety precautions can help them know how crucial wearing safety gear is. Sharing personal experiences of people who have suffered injuries because of not wearing safety gear at work can have a good impact.
If you cannot find professionals for training, you can go online and look for some case studies to share and send your findings to employees or distribute training materials if you find any.
More often than not, people are most likely to ignore reading big chunks of texts, so you might want to opt for visual content in that case. Show your employees images and videos relating to safety gear and its importance but be leery of cheesy or frightening content; overdramatic content is often misleading and never relatable.
Enforce company policies consistently
Company policies related to safety are designed to reduce the hazards in the workplace. Employees are likely to take these policies lightly unless enforced consistently. Being inconsistent may lead them to a mindset of “Not everyone is following it” leading them not to take the essential safety precaution. Ensure that your PPE policies are compelled in a way that is consistent and clear. You can do that by publishing them in the employee handbook, educating them through educational PPE policy and safety classes, and training supervisors in the company to consistently and reasonably enforce these policies on employees.
Employment contracts
If you have tried everything in your control to accommodate an employee and they still wouldn?t wear their prescription safety glasses, then you may get a chance to have grounds for dismissal. Mention regarding the clause complying with Health and Safety law in your employment contracts; it leaves no room for uncertainty and claims of having no knowledge about the same.
A clause does not spare you of the responsibility; it will only give you the foothold you need to deal with the cases where the refusal is frequent. Eventually, as an employer, you are about the same.
A clause does not spare you of the responsibility; it will one highly responsible for the safety of your employees.
Lead by example
Wear your safety glasses in all required zones. Workers tend to take the instructions lightly when they see senior staff failing to follow the rules. If your attitude contradicts your words and instructions on health and safety, you lose your employees’ trust and respect. Moreover, you are prone to get your eyes injured even if you are not working there, so it is a best practice to follow the rules and regulations.
Let employees choose their PPE
Your employees will be more likely to wear those prescription safety glasses that suit them and provide them comfort. When employees choose for themselves, it gives them a sense of individuality, control, and independence. They will be less likely to wear what you choose, so it would prove to be best to allow them to pick their own choices.
As an organization, you can either buy safety equipment in-store or look for them online, make sure you let your employees try their safety glasses and accompany you in purchasing them.
Have a catalog handy so that the workers can choose the safety glasses on their own, or if you are buying them online, let them browse through the collection. Be sure to choose the safety glasses they pick meet the safety standards.
Our online store Rx Safety Glasses Canada has a collection of high-end and stylish Rx safety glasses made using cutting-edge laser technology to facilitate the professionals performing heavy-duty tasks at their jobs.