We often hear the terms “employee participation” and “employee engagement” used as if they are identical in their approach; nothing could be further from the truth. In safety, we need “employee participation,” not “employee engagement”. How different are these phrases?
Oxford Dictionary defines them as:
Participation – the action of taking part in something
Engagement – the action of engaging or being engaged
Look at it in this simple manner…
When a manager goes out into the workplace to discuss safety with his/her team members, that is engagement. This is a very necessary step in building a culture of safety.
But when employees become ACTIVE in the Safety Management System (SMS) activities such as Hazard ID, Hazard Analysis, Risk Assessment, and Risk Mitigation, that is PARTICIPATION in the safety process and is necessary to achieve greatness in safety.
