Creating a culture of safety is more than just common sense; doing so can also increase morale and productivity, and decrease insurance premiums for your business.

Taking steps to ensure a safe workplace can not only contribute to your bottom line, it can create peace of mind that you are doing everything you can to keep your employees safe and prevent lost man-hours.

But the benefits of a safe workplace extend beyond your balance sheet. A safe workplace creates confident employees who take pride in their work and, as a result, are more productive at their jobs.

Developing and maintaining a safe workplace should be every business's top priority. Here are some tips to make it happen.

Safety is everyone's job

A culture of safety can't take root until you have instituted a comprehensive training program that engages everyone in the company. No workplace is safe if safety is always someone else's responsibility.

Work with your safety specialists to develop a thorough training program that is relevant to all employees. Once everyone in the company has passed through the program, make refresher courses a regular occurrence.

Safety isn't general. Take note of the specific areas of concern for your company. If there is an assembly line, machine or task that requires special care, spend the extra time necessary to educate employees on the hazards and how to take precautions to minimize them.

Maintenance is important

You can ask your employees to be as careful as possible, but if they're working in an unsafe environment with faulty equipment or other potential hazards, you're still putting them at risk. Don't cut corners with patchwork repairs or by nursing along aging equipment that should be replaced. Maintain and replace equipment as needed, and be honest with yourself about the “needed” part. Not maintaining equipment could put you in violation of the law and create a liability for the company.

Every state, and the federal government, has laws governing workplace safety. If you aren't well versed in what organizations such as OSHA have to say about safety, you should be. And if any part of your business isn't up to code, it should get immediate priority. In short, having an unsafe workplace is illegal.

Open the lines of communication

As with any other company-related topic, the best way to make it important is to make it a discussion point. When you have meetings, address safety, point out successes and setbacks, and open the floor for questions. For introverted employees who don't want to speak up during large forums, make sure your email address is known and that someone is responding to the queries that arrive in your inbox.

It's also important to celebrate safety successes. If you've gone six months without an accident, have a pizza Friday. If you pass a major safety inspection, put the certificate in a frame and display it prominently. If certain team members have been leading the way on safety initiatives, make sure your appreciation shows up in the form of bonus money. Pit departments against one another in a friendly competition to see who can maintain the highest safety standards. However you do it, make safety fun, interactive and rewarding.