But how to make it a priority for the workforce at large remains a difficult challenge for many employers today to approach. What constitutes a business-critical concept for the senior management team doesn’t always hold the same pull for individual employees or, sometimes, even the department they work within as a whole.

Knowing how to make health and safety a priority for staff in manufacturing will not only improve your overall bottom line – it will also show you’re a business with its heart in the right place.

Here are our top tips on how to how to make health and safety a priority for staff in manufacturing.

Connect health and safety with the goals of your employees

One way to motivate your workforce to prioritize the important aspects of work is to connect them to their own goals and objectives when it comes to their career. A business running an efficient operation with regards to health and safety is one which will be outpacing its competition. That means growth, which means the opportunity for progression and development for your staff.

By interweaving the ways that maintaining impeccable health and safety practices contribute to this, you can be sure they’ll take notice. Perhaps they could be kept in the loop with incident numbers, or the speed at which they’re responded to; maybe you could maintain that concise reporting is an attribute you look for in future leaders of the business.

However you go about it, make health and safety personal. Then watch as your employees make it their personal responsibility.

Make health and safety quantitative – then use it as an incentive

Health and safety is, without a doubt, all about your employees’ wellbeing at work. But, unfortunately, with a busy and committed team, you can find that oftentimes this isn’t enough to keep it at the forefront of their minds all the time. By making health and safety more about successful business outcomes, you make it relatable to their professional nature.

Break “health and safety” down into numbers. The number of incidents, to begin with. The average time it takes to respond to an incident. How many incidents are solved on site, how many require further medical attention, and so on and so forth. Once you have your data, you have a tangible target – so use that as a means to incentivize your staff to improve on it.

Whether you set company-wide rewards for reaching goals or individual targets for a more personal incentive, it could be the driving factor to make healthy and safety a priority for staff.

Use regular toolbox talks and meetings to keep it current

How to make health and safety a priority for staff in manufacturing? Talk about it, a lot.

When you reiterate its importance again and again, it’ll become more important to them. We’re not saying you should be having “meetings about meetings”; that’s not what this is about. But what we’re saying is, one key way to keep health and safety at the forefront is to… Well, practice what you preach. Keep it at the forefront!

The unique exposure and longstanding experience in the manufacturing industry is what makes NLG a recruiter of choice in this sector. To talk more about staffing services, or to simply chat employee engagement and talent trends, get in touch today.

#1: Keep the application process simple

The idea here is to encourage talent at all levels to apply for a job – not to put them off with a less than enthralling process! So, take stock of your application process and simplify it however you’re able to. Streamline the number of hoops jobseekers have to jump through and minimize them as best you can; if it’s something you can find out later during the first stage interview, leave it out.

Give them a reason to apply, not a reason not to. A convoluted, confusing or just unnecessarily lengthy application process can put off so many talented individuals, particularly if there’s any repetition (think about those dreaded systems which request a resume upload, followed by manually filling in all of the career information imminently afterwards – not ideal!)

Simplicity is the key – so make it a standard across the manufacturing jobs you hire for.

#2: Think about your flexible working opportunities

While much of the world adopts a more remote-friendly approach, for many manufacturing jobs this just isn’t an option (at least, not in a physical sense). But that’s not to say that flexibility shouldn’t be being embraced in a way which works.

The traditional nine-to-five is a thing of the past and, added to the fact that work-life balance has become even more important since the pandemic began, flexibility is key. Best practices for manufacturing hires means adjusting your schedules, adding more shifts, changing up rotas, or otherwise essentially ensuring that every employee has a way of working which suits them; which fits around their life rather than vice versa. Do so within reason to keep your operations at their optimum, but always keep your people at the forefront.

#3: Be digital savvy and tech-forward

That goes for throughout the hiring process, and beyond.

Use technology to connect with jobseekers in the way which works with them, whether it’s via text message, email, or a good old-fashioned phone call. Give your applicants the opportunity to present themselves in the way they feel does them justice, using technology to enable the process.

Once you’ve made your manufacturing hire, it’s about implementing technology to enhance their time working within your business. Think about how you pay them perhaps, and how convenient it is for staff; think about the benefits you offer, and accessibility. And finally, of course, think about how technology is going to make them more efficient and effective in their jobs – there’s a nod to that all-important employee experience again.

Best practices for manufacturing hires

We’re proudly changing the game – no, upping the game – here in North America when it comes to the work we do with clients. Partnering with Next Level Group doesn’t just mean you let us know what you need and we find them (although it’s something we’re adept at doing): we call ourselves consultants for a reason.

That might look like us helping you understand which personnel are going to solve your current challenge. It might mean having us consult on who or what may solve the future challenges. Consulting with us could even be setting a long-term hiring strategy, or helping build out your succession plan.

The only thing that’s for certain is that we’ll do all of the above, with best practices for manufacturing hires in place, always.