Equipment Rental Safety Practices Worthy of Consideration

Safety remains one of the most important topics in the rental business. It is critically important to begin the process of heightened safety awareness, along with even better, more consistent safe practices (even if your team is already doing a good job in these areas).

There are numerous challenges in developing and implementing an effective safety system. For example, like almost all small business operators, equipment rental company owners and managers can be easily consumed with day-to-day operations—it can often be difficult to find the time. The vast array of equipment, personal protective equipment needed, customer safety, loading and unloading delivery vehicles, defensive driving safety, safety involving the shop and other production equipment, safety involving your facility and yard, and more, can seem overwhelming with the enormous variety of safety facets that need to be covered.

The end goal should be to develop a comprehensive safety program. The good news is that there are many valuable sources of safety-related materials so it is not as daunting of an endeavor as you might think. Once you get it started it seems more manageable.

• Getting the entire team to embrace the company’s safety culture will help to make the program successful. Get employees involved. It is more likely that your people will be more committed to safety if they have a role in developing portions of your safety program.
• Make safety an important part of your new employee orientation program. You want to develop a culture of heightened safety awareness and consistent safe practices from the first day on the job.
• Obtain safety materials from the manufacturers of your rental equipment. They have a vested interest in having their products used and maintained safely.
• Consider implementing regular safety meetings. In my opinion, this is very important.
• Safety messages in some format should be presented daily. Just as pro football players briefly huddle before every offensive play, a safety huddle (or a series of them for different groups of employees) could take place near the start of every day. These would not be in-depth safety meetings but rather a brief version that offers a quick safety reminder or two. An example would be a reminder to lift items properly throughout the day. The next day’s reminder could be to use PPE in the performance of their work. Keep these less than a minute or two. 
• Tap into the numerous resources for relevant safety materials as there’s no sense in reinventing the wheel. For example, certain rental software systems can be important contributors to increased safety awareness and reminders. In fact, I’ve recommended to Rental an article about asking rental equipment software companies to share some of the ways their software assists in promoting safe practices in equipment rental companies.
• Consider having an experienced rental business consultant assist in getting your safety program process started.
• Give periodic reminders to your team concerning the locations of your first aid kits, fire extinguishers, etc.
• Keep up with the ever-changing safety rules and regulations to be certain that your company is complying.
• Be certain to document your safety efforts. Document safety meetings and other safety investments as this proves you are serious about safety and safe practices.
• Remember, even small rental companies can and should have a safety program.
• Try not to think of a safety program as just another requirement to make things more difficult. Think of it as important to help keep employees and customers happy and healthy.

Putting safety into practice should be the primary goal. A safety program doesn’t need to be a hassle. In my opinion, it should be simple and easy to follow. If it isn’t easy to use—it probably won’t. Make a firm commitment to follow through with your safety initiatives. Remember, you want your staff to embrace the continuity of doing their work safely time after time and day after day. Lead by example. It's wise for the company’s leaders to also demonstrate safety program follow-through.