Make safety relevant
Middough Inc. President and CEO Ronald R. Ledin vividly remembers an employee getting his tie caught in a paper shredder. He was embarrassed, but he wore his spaghetti-strand tie for weeks.
“Those are the kind of stories that you think, ‘Well, that’s never going to happen to me,’” Ledin says.
To make safety real and relevant beyond the workplace, employees at Middough take turns presenting safety topics to kick off meetings.
“It’s not just management that’s preaching the gospel,” Ledin says. “They have to go online and research these topics. The best part is they are telling little anecdotal stories about experiences they’ve had personally. … It’s pretty laughable, but people remember that.”
Middough associates also receive weekly communications about other topics that surpass the office, like fireworks safety around July 4th.
“When you reach out to employees with that kind of language and activity, then they really understand that you are interested in their best interest as a lifestyle, not just, ‘Well, we don’t want you to get hurt on the job because it’s really going to cost us money or you’re a liability or a bad statistic,’ which is a much more limited motive,” Ledin says. When employees feel that you care about them, they’ll care about each other and the job they’re doing.
“If for no other reason, I would do it for the employee relations aspect,” Ledin says.
How to reach: Middough Inc., (216) 367-6000 or www.middough.com For more information about Middough’s safety program, e-mail [email protected].
