Mastering Safety Competency: Building a Safer, Smarter Workforce

What is Safety Competency?

Safety competency is the integration of knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes necessary for individuals to work safely and foster a safe environment. This includes understanding internal policies, operational procedures, and external regulations; executing safe work practices; and actively participating in continuous improvement through training, feedback, and experience.

Importance and Benefits

Implementing a proactive approach to safety is crucial in reducing accidents, enhancing workplace safety culture, and fostering trust within the workforce. By building competency, workplace safety becomes more than a mere compliance activity. Instead, it gets deeply ingrained into the organizational mindset that provides the following:

• Reduced workplace injuries – According to the National Safety Council (NSC), there was a significant drop in work-related injuries and illnesses from 2003 to 2023. This demonstrates the impact of improved safety measures, specifically when workers can identify hazards and follow safe practices.

• Enhanced employee morale – Workers who feel safe are more engaged and satisfied with their jobs. Aside from reporting fewer safety incidents, businesses with high employee engagement also have high retention rates.

• Improved productivity – Safety competency fosters a secure environment where employees can focus on tasks without interruptions caused by unsafe conditions or unfortunate incidents.

• Higher cost savings – Workplace injuries are expensive, costing companies up to $176.5 billion in 2023. Aside from minimizing compensation claims, legal fees, and regulatory fines, comprehensive safety training lowers direct and indirect costs due to operational downtimes.

• Better regulatory compliance – Adopting injury prevention programs ensures adherence to legal standards while fostering a proactive safety culture that goes beyond compliance.

Safety Competency Examples Across Industries

Different industries require specific safety competencies based on unique risks and operational requirements. Here are some practical scenarios of safety competency in the following sectors:

Hospitality

The high volume of interactions with different people increases the potential for accidents. Maintaining a safe environment protects guests from harm, enhances their experience, and safeguards the establishment’s reputation. This also ensures the well-being of employees, reducing absenteeism and improving morale.

• Kitchen safety protocols

• Food hygiene and safety standards

• Chemical handling for cleaning operations

• Guest evacuation procedures

• Ergonomics (e.g., comfortable workstations, handling luggage and supplies)

Retail

Both employees and customers face injuries in the retail industry due to its busy and dynamic environment. Aside from slips, trips, and falls, retail workers have also reported verbal threats and physical violence from aggressive customers. Finding a balance between customer accessibility and worker protection is vital in this sector.

• Manual handling techniques

• Store security protocols

• Safe equipment operation

• Workplace violence prevention

• Emergency response procedures

Manufacturing

Often ranked among the more dangerous industries, manufacturing environments are risky to workers due to complex machinery and potentially hazardous processes. Prioritizing safety is essential to prevent severe injuries, fatalities, and long-term health issues.

• Machine operation safety

• Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures

• Hazardous materials handling

• Confined space entry

• Emergency shutdown procedures

Construction

This high-risk industry has numerous potential hazards, leading to severe injuries and fatalities. Safety competency is critical in assessing and responding to evolving site conditions—protecting workers’ lives while preventing project delays and financial losses.

• Site hazard identification

• Working at heights and scaffolding safety

• Electrical safety

• Power tools and heavy equipment operation

• Excavation safety

Healthcare

Errors and unsafe practices make patients and workers vulnerable to serious harm in this industry. Ensuring a safe environment protects patients, supports the well-being of healthcare workers, and builds trust in this essential system.

• Patient identification

• Medication safety

• Communication

• Infection prevention and control

• Emergency preparedness and response (e.g., Basic Life Support (BLS), Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR))

Core Elements

Safety competency is built on four pillars that work together to ensure individuals can identify risks, follow procedures, and respond appropriately in hazardous situations. Get to know the following:

Knowledge of Regulatory and Safety Systems

Workers at every level of the organization should understand Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations, company policies, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and hazard identification and control principles. A strong grasp of this knowledge base ensures compliance and informed decision-making.

Application of Safe Work Practices

This refers to the hands-on ability to carry out tasks safely, correctly, and consistently. It encompasses proficiency in operating equipment, performing Job Safety Analyses (JSAs), using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and implementing control measures in real-world scenarios.

Hazard Recognition and Risk Perception

Essential to proactive safety behavior, this involves recognizing potential hazards in changing conditions, understanding risk severity and likelihood, and applying dynamic risk assessments in the field. Through comprehensive health and safety training, risk awareness can become second nature to workers, enabling them to intervene before incidents occur.

Communication and Reporting

Clear, consistent communication is critical to safety. This includes delivering and understanding safety instructions, participating in toolbox talks, reporting near misses and incidents, and contributing to safety observations and audits. This element is a shared responsibility across the organization.

Challenges

Organizations across industries face numerous barriers to building and upholding safety competency. Understanding these obstacles is the first step to overcoming them and driving resilience in the workforce:

• High worker turnover due to seasonal work, labor shortages, and dissatisfaction can disrupt any initiative. When continuity is disrupted, there will be an ongoing cycle of onboarding gaps, elevating incident risks among new hires.

• Limited time and resources may be a result of tight budgets or deprioritization. This issue may lead to shortcuts and widening competency gaps in high-risk or time-sensitive environments.

• Resistance to change is a common dilemma because employees are used to the “old way” of doing things. Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) managers will struggle to establish updated frameworks and sustain compliance when frontliners ignore new safety protocols.

Best Practices to Implement

Most companies have a health and safety competency framework in their broader Safety Management System (SMS), primarily because it’s mandated by law. Fostering a culture of safety where workers aim to reinforce their knowledge and skills is another matter altogether. Adopting the following best practices can help ascertain that:

• Implement role-specific safety training programs based on tasks, exposure levels, and equipment use. Employees are better prepared to apply the right safety practices in their day-to-day responsibilities when real-life scenarios and job-specific SOPs are included in the training program.

• Reinforce learning through coaching and peer mentorship by pairing new hires with seasoned workers. These coaching moments strengthen practical skill application, support retention, and foster team-wide accountability.

• Conduct regular competency assessments, such as quizzes, practical demonstrations, peer observations, and audits, to evaluate employee knowledge and behavior. This helps track progress, identifying skill gaps for more targeted retraining.

• Foster two-way safety communication. Frontline insights drive real improvement, so anonymous reporting, feedback sessions, and employee suggestions matter.

• Leverage technology to support learning and engagement. Mobile training apps, digital checklists, Virtual Reality (VR) simulations, and Learning Management Systems (LMS) deliver consistent, flexible learning.