Council Solution
Employee Safety Ideas
Your Health & Safety Team has all the procedures and training in place – but what more can you do to elevate safety?
Today’s key message is not just about protecting your employees, but about actively involving them in the safety process. Our Safety Ideas philosophy was originally developed for Rail Companies. Despite having strong H&S teams and thousands of employees, accidents involving both staff and the public still occurred. During one of our strategy meetings, we introduced the concept of Safety Ideas – empowering the employees who are on the ground, walking through stations and trains every day, to share their insights and contribute their own safety suggestions.
If an employee has a safety idea, they can log it into the system – it only takes a few minutes of their time. The idea is then reviewed by the Health & Safety Team to assess its validity. If the idea is accepted, the employee receives a thank-you email, recognising their contribution to improving workplace safety.
Another highly effective suggestion is to offer a small prize for the best idea every three months. A simple reward – such as a £35 hamper – can go a long way in motivating employees to engage more openly and enthusiastically with the safety process. It adds a fun, positive incentive that encourages continuous observation and contribution.
While many of the suggestions submitted may not be viable or worth pursuing, even just a few good ideas can make a real difference in keeping your workforce safer. More importantly, this process
helps to actively involve employees in Health & Safety within their own workplace.
This is a crucial step, as the H&S department can’t be everywhere at once – and is often tied up with paperwork, reports, and compliance tasks. By engaging staff directly, you create a shared responsibility for safety that strengthens your overall culture and reduces risks on the ground.
The important aspect of safety ideas is to recognise them and feedback to the person who gave the idea. This promotes more enthusiasm to the employees that what they are recommending is being taken seriously.
See how many ideas are forthcoming and see how many ideas are being implemented.