What can encourage a positive attitude to health and safety in the workplace?
It’s been my experience that attitudes in the workplace are most strongly influenced by two sources: The top levels; The natural leaders that become evident in any group of people. If the people at the top don’t demonstrate at all times their genuine concern for health and safety, their lack of “sponsorship” will trickle down to the very lowest levels. When people are brought together into a group certain individuals will, for whatever reason, emerge as leaders. The other members of the group will take on their attitudes and emulate their behaviors on many aspects of the workplace including health and safety. If you want to effectively influence behavior of the group as a whole you can’t do it without the cooperation of those two sources.
