The last thing you want is an accident with injuries at the workplace, which is why it is a good idea to lay the groundwork for best safety practices and accident prevention. 

To help reduce the chances of accidents on the job, and to improve and increase safety performance, the 5 E’s of Safety is widely known across a variety of industries as a helpful guideline to follow: Education, encouragement, engineering, enforcement, and evaluation. 

Education Is the First Priority

Educating employees, administrators, leaders, and all involved in the day-to-day of a workplace is a massive part of your accident prevention strategy and low-risk environment. It teaches everyone the proper safety rules and practices, which is vital to overall safety awareness. Lack of training is a critical factor in many explosion accidents and injuries across the country.

Through printed materials, live presentations, e-reminders, demos, and more, education will help to identify any dangerous behaviors and take action to eliminate them and prevent them in the future.

Three Cheers for Encouragement 

The encouragement aspect of accident prevention focuses on a balance between safe and fun. To increase interest in the safety programs and protocols in the workplace, specialists recommend encouragement to promote more enthusiasm. 

Leaders can host special events, employee competitions and awards, or economic incentives to celebrate those who are taking it seriously to stay accident-free.

A Degree of Engineering

How do you build a safety net in your working environment? It all begins with a strong engineering plan, which can actually be combined with education and encouragement to become one of the most successful injury prevention approaches. 

Specifically, engineering should pinpoint the needs within a company’s environmental, health, and safety (EHS) program. It involves quality control in any design, development, or maintenance issues that are discovered, followed by implementing the necessary changes to protect employees. Through seamless communication at all levels in the company and with the proper checks in place, more accidents and mistakes can be prevented.

Enforcement of Laws

There are laws that have been passed decades ago by government agencies, such as the Occupational Safety Health & Safety Act (OSHA), that need to be strictly enforced as part of your company’s accident prevention policy. Enforcement only reinforces laws and legislation like this to protect your workers, reduce on-the-job accidents, regulate a hazard-free work environment, and potentially save lives. 

Enforcement of these regulations also requires an open line of communication between company leadership and employees, as well as with law enforcement, so that the right training is a standard, incidents are investigated and reported, and the issue is resolved.

The Final Evaluation

This is the final E in an accident prevention strategy and it is an integral one to evaluate whether or not your baseline and ongoing safety goals are being met. Evaluation is a culmination of engineering, encouragement, enforcement, and educational safety resources within your business.

The evaluation strategy is comprised of:

• Noting and discussing any changes to your safety program that will produce the results your company wants.
• Examining what your expectations are for your accident prevention program and a more improved strategy and response.

Beyond this, emergency response may be required to step in, but hopefully the five E’s will serve as your safety solution. If an incident occurs due to negligence or a failure to follow protocol, the Houston explosion accident attorneys at The Doan Law Firm can help you weigh your options.