Some safety implementations fall flat from the get-go. Plenty of safety managers know all too well the feeling of an initiative that seems like it was doomed from the start. Many more implementations tend to feel mediocre, and while they achieve some measure of success, it can feel like they never really shift into a higher gear.

And then there are those rare safety implementations that feel like they have a certain sparkle to them. The training lands well, workers are engaged and afterwards you can notice a positive difference in workplace behavior. And once you’ve experienced this once, it raises the immediate question: how do you replicate it for future safety training?

Some items are obvious contributors to a stand-out implementation. Yes, you likely need a well-designed program that adheres to proper adult learning principles. And yes, you likely also need an initiative to be implemented properly, ideally by an experienced safety professional. But those and a host of other safety success factors still depend on the presence of a single keystone issue: safety buy-in.

Safety implementations are more effective when workers believe in them. They’re less successful when workers are resistant to them. In many ways, it’s as simple as that. And when you look beyond discrete initiatives, the same is true of day-to-day safety in the workplace. Researcher and New York Times-bestselling author Rod Wagner discovered a strong correlation between worker engagement and safety outcomes. Additional research backs up Wagner’s findings, with recent data from Gallup demonstrating that more engaged employees have 63% fewer safety incidents.

High levels of employee buy-in for safety can make new EHS initiatives more effective and improve day-to-day safety outcomes. So it makes sense that safety professionals want to foster a greater belief in safety. But there’s just one catch—safety buy-in almost never happens in a vacuum. In the vast majority of workplaces, there is a strong, positive correlation between safety engagement and a broader sense of employee engagement. In short, it’s hard to have one without the other.

This means that an otherwise sterling safety initiative can fail to gain traction because of low worker morale. It also means that an otherwise lacklustre safety program could outperform expectations thanks to strong engagement among employees. 

There is both good news and bad news for safety professionals. The bad news is that when employee engagement suffers as a result of any number of factors—such as layoffs or increased production quotas—safety engagement will likely suffer as a result, even if the safety department had nothing to do with it.

Conversely, a rising tide lifts all boats. When engagement rises, there’s a good chance that safety will see some beneficial effects as a result. It’s worth noting that other areas of your company will also see gains, with the Gallup research showing that better engagement correlates not only with positive safety outcomes, but also with less wasted material, better productivity and lower turnover. 

And because the safety engagement/general employee engagement relationship is a two-way street, there are things that EHS folks can do to help move the dial in a positive direction. These include:

• Consistent dialogue and open communication
• Demonstrating a personal commitment to workers’ safety 
• Embracing the principles of 24/7 safety
• Taking a more targeted approach to human factors management 

These are among the key success factors for building a more positive safety climate that can, over time, have lasting positive effects on employee engagement levels throughout the workplace.

Getting safety buy-in doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s not something you can pick off a menu. Instead, it’s part of a larger suite of employee attitudes to work. Many successful safety managers recognize that fact and begin coordinating with leaders from other departments to begin fostering a greater sense of engagement across the board. 

This can be as simple as making safety a greater part of the everyday language on the worksite. As one SafeStart client puts it, there are “words we try to get our plant people—especially our plant managers and our leaders—to talk about safety.” And while that’s only part of the puzzle, consistent messaging can be combined with strong demonstrations of care and a focus on managing human factors. When that happens, the road to stronger engagement may be shorter than you think.

It’s no mystery why some safety initiatives stand head and shoulder above the rest: they’re well designed, well executed, and perhaps most importantly, workers believe in them. While you can’t get workers to buy in overnight, there are steps you can take right away to start winning hearts and minds. And if you recognize that safety engagement is closely tied to broader employee engagement, you can begin making the case to leaders throughout your organization that everyone wins when the organization takes a positive and unified approach to employee engagement.