If you are planning to install an elevator in your office building, then it is important to ensure that your employees understand the importance of following lift safety precautions at all times. Unfortunately, many organisations equate safety training with having a few colourful lift safety posters around the office or with a short talk about it during office meetings.
Knowing how to react to an emergency and actually tackling an emergency in real life are two completely different things. Read ahead for useful tips to ensure your employees imbibe and follow elevator safety rules and guidelines at all times.
Go Practical
Have a fire safety drill in your office without any advance warning. You will be surprised to find people trying to escape the building in the life despite being told not to use the lift during a fire emergency. For somebody habituated to using the elevator at all times, using the lift even when the fire alarm is blaring will be an automatic and instinctive reaction. Conducting safety drills in the office and compelling your team to implement lift safety rules in real life is the smartest option.
Review Performance
Merely conducting drills won’t suffice. Observe your employees’ performance and conduct a detailed review their reactions after the drill has ended. The importance of following safety rules will sink in only when your team reviews their reactions and understands their mistakes. Fear of fire may cause people to pile into the elevator without bothering about the weight limit. A comprehensive review will identify both mistakes—using the lift during a fire and ignoring the weight limit.
Safety should become a Habit
Conducting a safety drill once in a year will mean your office team will never understand the importance of lift safety rules. Multiple emergencies can occur in your office in span of a few days or even a few hours. Treating safety as a formality or a chore is not the right approach. Conduct drills frequently and carry out detailed review after each drill to ensure employees can identify how they are repeating their mistakes.
Encourage Teamwork
A top-down approach to something like lift safety won’t work for long. You cannot expect people to become safety conscious merely because their boss has instructed them. The best way to ensure safety rules are followed is to put your employees in charge of the implementation. Violation of safety rules should be identified and penalised by their employees themselves. In fact, they should be allowed to penalise even you if you violate a rule or ignore a safety guideline. Complete equality will ensure the focus remains on safety at all times.
Constructive Penalties
Instead of having penalties or punishments for safety rules, you can adopt a constructive approach and try a more positive approach. A month without any safety violations should be rewarded with a pizza party. Those who show commitment towards lift safety rules should be praised in front of the entire team. Such an approach will ensure your team has the motivation to follow safety guidelines at all times.