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Partly due to "the war on talent," companies today are creating more space for onboarding, the comprehensive process by which they welcome a new employee. Welcoming someone properly and quickly integrating them into the team could significantly influence the positive progression of their "employee journey," thus increasing the likelihood that the new employee will stay on board longer.

Everyone has had a bad night's sleep, right? That's true. Everyone can recall sleepless nights with sick children or restless tossing and turning with haunting thoughts. As long as we're able to follow up with good or better nights after nights with insufficient restorative sleep, there's no problem. Sleep deprivation that doesn't significantly hinder you during the day is called pseudo-insomnia, although it's still real and unpleasant for those experiencing it. When it does hinder, but not longer than three weeks in a row and occurring at least three times per week, it's called acute insomnia. When bad nights persist for longer than three weeks consecutively, it's referred to as chronic insomnia.

In a company we used to visit more often, cynicism seems to be the new language among employees. Shoulders are drooping, people are complaining.

The cosy break room is deserted and many go elsewhere for lunch unless they have to stay for yet another meeting. Atmosphere: below zero.

The same day, a statement-reaction on LinkedIn catches our eye. Someone posts "Burnout is about your workplace, not your people". A finger pointing at the employers? 

Why is it that in some companies there are significantly more burnouts? 

Safety is a value and above all a matter of attitude. That is why it is not child's play, even if some people pretend that it is. 
In an ideal world, perhaps this is how it works? You provide the necessary training, you fine-tune your DBRS and... there you have it!

However, because getting the right attitude into your organisation is another matter, we have gathered a few effective approaches for you today, which will also turn your organisation into an example of best practice when it comes to safety.

Our prevention advisor Jesse Maesen noticed that this question is still very real for many companies.

More and more companies want to address safety as a matter of urgency. Also because they realise that every euro they invest in prevention and occupational safety more than doubles the return.

In the year 2022, it is more than interesting to know what a vigorous and at the same time feasible approach looks like.

But for that, we actually have to change the initial question...

Although many prevention advisers are very passionate about safety protocols, training, machine safety, the use of PPE, etc., they sometimes notice to their frustration that not enough is being done.

How can you do something about this as a prevention advisor or plant manager? In this blog, we show which strategy works everywhere.

The tips you get will also be useful outside the workplace...

With these 7 handy tips, you can create eye-catching posters for safety in the workplace.

Bear in mind a few practical hints and don't let your message get lost in the busy workplace communication. This way, you can better emphasise the key points of the prevention plan in your company.

At the virtual Motor Show, all brands are showing off their range of electric cars. The new car taxation system is pushing sales of electric vehicles or EVs (electrical vehicles).

For company cars, with a leader in the leasing market, this would mean a sales increase of 100% by 2021 compared to 2020. More and more people will be charging their cars at home. To what extent are they prepared for this?

Is it dangerous to charge your company car at home at night? Or in an underground garage? How wrong can it get? And above all: what can you do as a user to prevent this?

A title should grab your attention.
Victor Roggeveen's "Safety? Risk reduction is as far as we go" (Prebes Safety News 213) did in any case.

Does Roggeveen really have such a gloomy outlook? Will prevention advisers get no further than some paper risk reduction and will safety remain a utopia?

With our two feet in the middle of the fourth wave, we can already look back at the impact of teleworking on employees.
Around 40% of employees worldwide moved from their offices to their homes for extended periods of time. Never before have we had the opportunity to observe the impact of (forced) telecommuting on such a large scale.
Today, we let Sofie and An speak for themselves.

As a caterer, real estate agent or fitness shop owner, do I need a GPP or global prevention plan?(*Yes, as soon as you take on staff.)
As a small business owner, do I really need a prevention advisor? Who should I hire and what should this person do in my business? And: how many hours must I provide for his/her assignment? Where can I find the right information? What is the best place to start?

Today, the economy is running as it did pre-Covid. There is even growth this 3rd quarter. Foreign workers are more often filling vacancies that would otherwise go unfilled. Greater flexibilisation leads to more and quicker changes of employees. Situations with staff from different language backgrounds and with different language skills are now more the rule than the exception, in just about all sectors.

However, language problems in the workplace go far beyond the obvious language barriers between employees with different mother tongues. On closer examination, up to 10% of all accidents at work turn out to be caused by language issues.

What opportunities do entrepreneurs and prevention advisors have here?

Talking about safety helps, but more is needed to change unsafe behaviour. Toolbox talks can help in an accessible way. Provided, of course, that the person responsible knows the tricks of the trade...

Not everyone likes to make speeches, but a toolbox talk is not really a speech. If you do it right, this is a kind of safety meeting. It is more of a discussion than a one-sided speech. The reaction of the listeners is of great value. After all, with them you are working on a real safety mentality.

Curious about the best way to go about this? This is how you can make future toolbox meetings run more smoothly and pleasantly.
We have not numbered them this time, but these are 5 approaches we have had the best experiences with.

Our blog from March 25 is unintentionally very topical. Yesterday, we were contacted about the investigation into a fatal workplace accident earlier this week. It seems that the lack of machine guards cost a young man of 21 his life. Such safeguards, or rather the lack of them, unfortunately, cost lives more often.
It reminded us of this report by a fatal workplace accident investigator.  

Prevention is our core business. As a prevention advisor, you are usually busy preventing dangerous situations from occurring on the shop floor. As an auditor and investigator of industrial accidents, you sometimes have to deal with other situations... You need to have a strong stomach. You can, however, read on.

Companies confide in us and share sensitive information with us. That is why you will not find any traceable details here. So why mention them? For the simple reason that these cases show a common thread. A real risk that lurks around the corner in most companies.

Is it really possible to make a profit by investing in occupational safety? In these challenging times, the focus in most companies is on results and the strategy towards this is often just cost cutting. Where possible, they postpone certain investments. Certainly safety-related plans drop down the priority list and sometimes they even just stay there.

What if we told you that investing in safety does not cost money, but that it even makes money... 

In an evacuation, people do not behave like molecules. The parameters that you can enter in your simulation do not turn the figures on the screen into people. People help each other, which can speed up an evacuation by up to 30%, but sometimes they panic, with potentially disastrous consequences.