Safety Teams and Committees
Safety teams and committees are an integral part of a company's safety culture. The committee must take ownership for safety issues within the firm. To ensure the committee takes ownership, it should consist of all employees from all levels — mid-level management, senior skilled employees and new hourly laborers should all be represented. However, a safety committee should not include the firm's president or safety director. If the president and safety director are on the committee, employees won't take ownership. Instead, they'll consider safety as an issue for the president and safety director. Employees in the field must have ownership of safety — it is after all their future!

A safety committee should have a budget, vision, strategy, goals, etc. To get ideas on where to start, consider a survey of all employees to see what their concerns are. Other aspects of a quality safety program that should be considered include:

Subcontractors
Do you make your subcontractors comply with your safety rules? Is it contractually required? You can't reinforce if it isn't in the contract, so make sure it is on the contract.

Recordkeeping
With regard to OSHA 300 versus workers compensation, OSHA record ability does not necessarily mean workers compensable. However they can and do affect each other and the company's bottom-line. Don't make the mistake of using one (OSHA 300 log or Worker's Comp rates/EMR) as a gauge of your company's safety health. Both are indicators of a company's safety programs effectiveness. Use both.

Employee Involvement
Getting employees involved in safety comes down to a question all want answered. What's in it for me? Employees want to know how you are you going to reward them for safe behavior. Whatever the reward, it must fit the culture. Some companies use gift certificates. Some use bingo cards, hard-hat stickers or a point system. If the reward system isn't tied to the culture, it won;t work — no matter how good the gimmick.