Has your company experienced a work crisis recently? Someone may have gotten seriously injured; may have suffered a stroke while at work; a recent fire?

Is the team’s morale down? Do your employees feel safe?

These are the questions you need to ask yourself. People can feel unsafe at work, post-crisis or disaster. They might be pushing themselves way too hard to concentrate on work after the traumatic incident. Some of your colleagues might also develop symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

To maintain the company’s retention rate and make people feel safe again, you cannot dismiss the significance of this conversation.

Recognize Emotions

Start with validating everyone’s feelings. Empathize and talk about everybody’s mental state. People might not open up; don’t expect them to immediately do so. The following questions will help you in this situation:

  • “How are we feeling today?”
  • “Did everyone sleep well?” and
  • “I know it’s been a hard week. We can talk about it as a group if everybody feels comfortable. Or I’m available in my office if you want to talk privately”

Talk about how you feel and your fears. If you are in a position of power, opening about your emotions will help make other people feel safe. If someone is numb from the experience, it might also help them sort out their emotions. This kind of intervention will tell your colleagues that it is normal to feel whatever they are feeling.

Plan Activities

Ask the company to plan activities for the staff. But remember to only plan activities that do not require too much energy or are physical. You have to remember that people are already stressed and exhausted; it will take time for the group to get back to the normal grind.

emergency response training

After some time has elapsed, and most of the team is back to normal, the company should conduct a first aid and/or emergency response training. It will help people prepare for emergency, helping make them feel more confident in dealing with a situation, if something were to happen again.

It will be a major step toward ensuring all employees feel safe again, and are able to restore their trust back into their workplace.

At Metro Safety, we recommend that the company becomes vocal about the measures that are being taken to prioritize safety. This will not only make employees aware of the emergency protocol but also boost their confidence in handling such an incident.

We can help you conduct emergency response training at your workplace. Our experts offer multiple courses based on first aid and emergency response specifically tailored to accident-prone workplaces. Get in touch with us now!