Lucía Grijalbo, Professor of the Master's Degree in Management of Occupational Risk Prevention, Excellence, the Environment and Corporate Responsibility .
In occupational risk prevention, the employer must carry out internal communication (to workers) and external communication (to interested parties).
Every professional responsible for the prevention of occupational risks must ensure that their workers are aware of the risks to which they are exposed and how they can minimise them, so that they become aware of the importance of using the necessary protective equipment to preserve their safety and health.
To communicate effectively, different skills are needed such as truthfulness, transparency, honesty, active listening, empathy, non-verbal language, conflict resolution, verbal language, respect, persuasion instagram data and credibility. It is important to pay attention to the signs of non-verbal communication (facial expressions, body language) and the signs of verbal communication (personal encounters, telephone conversations, written messages).
Communication must be two-way . On the one hand, the employer must inform his employees about the risks to their safety and health, the measures and activities for protection and prevention against these risks, and the measures adopted by the company. On the other hand, employees have the right to make proposals to the employer that allow improving the levels of protection of safety and health.
Some effective techniques for internal communication are magazines, employee handbooks or notice boards. Information and Communication Technologies – ICT (email, intranet or employee portal) or institutional and corporate videos and those in which employees themselves participate (for example, Lipdub) can also be used.
Externally, the various activities carried out in the company must be communicated to raise awareness among workers and ensure their safety and health . In this way, a preventive culture will be created in society.
The media (press, television, radio) are a good tool to communicate and project a more positive image of health and safety. Communication 3.0 can also be used through the company website, its blogs, its social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube) or through different Apps (such as the tools developed by INSHT: storage of chemical products, exposure to vibrations, correct use of manual ladders, etc.).
In times of crisis, companies must carry out strategic communication to maintain their trust and reputation.
Good communication in occupational risk prevention is essential to ensure the health and safety of workers! But there is a major problem: the people in charge of managing occupational risk prevention often do not have the necessary knowledge to communicate well. For this reason, from this post we encourage all prevention professionals to train in communication issues, taking specific courses such as the one developed by Bureau Veritas University Center , and in any case, to rely on the Communication departments of their respective companies to achieve the best results.