9 Ways to Avoid Hearing “Oops” in the Workplace

There’s no such thing as a stupid question, but there are stupid mistakes. Accidents in the workplace are entirely avoidable, yet they happen All. The. Time.

You do your best to prevent accidents by crafting safety protocols, hosting safety training, and creating a culture that values safety. But people get distracted, forget, and ultimately accidents happen. To reinforce safety messages out of the floor and hopefully make them stick, invest in accident prevention posters.

Below are our 9 favorite posters that cover various ways in which people act dumb.  

Get them to report hazards 

The only thing worse than a workplace accident is when an employee admits they were aware of the hazard before the fact. This is a perfect example of the “accidents are preventable” idea. Encourage employees to spread the wealth—and by wealth, we mean knowledge of a hazard—with this accident prevention poster.

Encourage humor, not horseplay

We love humor. Humor helps readers retain the information on your safety poster. So we love a poster the encourages workplace humor but draws the line at horseplay, which honestly isn’t that funny anyway.  

Keep their mind on the task

Performing repetitive tasks can be kind of a bore, but those tasks become way more fun when your mind wanders to that fantasy where you win the lottery, buy the , and spend your days on the beach of your private island. But when employees lose focus, accidents happen. Remind them to stay focused on safety.

Urge them to report unsafe equipment

Employees may be hesitant to report unsafe equipment, especially if they’re concerned that they’ll be to blame for breaking it. But when broken equipment goes unreported, the next person to use it could get injured. Pick up a safety poster that encourages employees to report unsafe equipment, tools and machinery.

Make sure they learn from close calls

Near misses and close calls are usually the result of a careless mistake, so it’s essential to analyze what went wrong and make sure your team learns from it. Otherwise, the accident is bound to happen again; and next time, your employees might not be so lucky. Lighten up this grim message with a humorous safety poster.

Rally the troops around a common goal

As a safety officer, you might feel like the master of doom and gloom. But not every safety message needs to be an ominous warning. Inspire your team by reframing your safety message to be focused on achieving a common goal—like no accidents. Bring some positivity into your workplace with an uplifting safety poster.  

Ask them to put the phone down

These days, everyone’s eyes are glued to their phones as if their text messages hold the answer to the meaning of life. In reality, they’re probably watching dogs walking around in human clothes on TikTok. And although your coworker crashing into a stationary object because their nose was buried in their phone might make for a great TikTok, it’s not exactly a safe practice. Prevent Darwin-award–level accidents with a don’t walk and text poster.

Involve your team in safety discussions

The people on your production floor are interacting with your tools and machinery every day, so they know the workplace hazards better than anyone. Tap into their knowledge and create a safety culture that values employee input with a safety poster that encourages participation.

Post safety guidelines

Some things are best left unsaid. Your safety policy is not one of them. Yes, you’ve explained safe procedures at various safety meetings. Still, people forget—they also zone out, reinforcing your message with safety posters on the production floor and in the warehouse. And though you may feel some of these messages are “too obvious” to bother with, after an accident occurs, you better hope your boss doesn’t think hanging safety posters was “too obvious” a solution.

Are you not finding the perfect poster? Browse through all of Safety Poster’s workplace safety posters today.