By Evan Hackel
You can’t eliminate every possibility of an injury or accident in a franchise, but you can dramatically reduce the risk. The advantage of franchising is that safety can become part of the operating system, with common standards, training, inspections, and accountability across every location. OSHA emphasizes identifying hazards, involving employees, selecting effective controls, developing a hazard-control plan, and checking whether those controls continue to work.
But let’s see how that philosophy can be applied in a real-world setting – your franchise locations.
1. Make safety a system, not a slogan
“Safety first” written on a wall accomplishes very little unless it is built into everyday operations.
Create clear standards covering the risks relevant to your business, such as:
- Slips, trips, and falls
- Equipment and machinery
- Lifting and material handling
- Chemicals and cleaning products
- Fire and emergency procedures
- Vehicle and driving safety
- Food preparation, where applicable
- Workplace violence and security
- Customer safety
A franchise system particularly benefits from consistent standards across locations. Franchise-safety guidance likewise emphasizes standardized procedures and consistent implementation.
2. Identify hazards before someone gets hurt
Don’t wait for an accident to discover a dangerous condition.
Require regular safety inspections at each franchise location. More importantly, involve the people doing the work. OSHA specifically recommends getting worker input because employees often understand workplace conditions and potential solutions particularly well.
Teach employees to ask a simple question:
“What could go wrong here, and what can we do now to prevent it?”
That question can become one of the most valuable habits in your organization.
3. Fix the hazard instead of merely warning people about it
When a hazard is discovered, the best response is usually to eliminate or control the danger rather than simply telling employees to “be careful.”
OSHA recommends evaluating hazards using a hierarchy of controls, selecting controls that are feasible, effective, and as permanent as possible.
For example, if employees continually slip in a particular area, another warning sign may not be the real solution. Determine why the floor becomes slippery and correct the underlying condition.
4. Standardize safety training
Every franchisee should know what employees must learn before they perform potentially hazardous work.
Training shouldn’t be a one-time orientation followed by years of silence. Reinforce it when:
- Someone is hired.
- An employee changes jobs.
- New equipment is installed.
- Procedures change.
- A new hazard appears.
- An accident or near miss occurs.
OSHA provides compliance assistance, education, training resources, and a confidential On-Site Consultation Program for eligible small and medium-sized businesses.
5. Pay attention to near misses
This may be one of a franchise system’s most valuable sources of safety information.
Suppose someone trips over an electrical cord but doesn’t fall. Nothing happened, so everyone moves on.
That’s a mistake.
The near miss revealed the problem before someone was injured.
Create a simple method for employees and franchisees to report hazards and near misses without fear of embarrassment or retaliation. Then investigate them and share appropriate lessons throughout the franchise network.
6. Give franchisees a practical safety checklist
A franchisee has hundreds of things competing for attention. Make safety easy to execute.
A daily or weekly checklist might cover:
- Floors and walkways
- Entrances and exits
- Lighting
- Electrical cords and outlets
- Fire extinguishers and emergency equipment
- Machinery and protective guards
- Personal protective equipment
- Storage areas
- Chemicals
- Vehicles
- Customer areas
- First-aid supplies
The list should be customized to the particular franchise operation and applicable regulations.
7. Make equipment maintenance non-negotiable
A piece of equipment shouldn’t need to fail before it receives attention.
Establish required inspection and maintenance schedules. Employees should also know when they must stop using equipment and report a suspected problem.
8. Investigate accidents to prevent the next accident
When an incident occurs, the purpose of the investigation shouldn’t simply be to identify who made a mistake.
Ask:
Why was it possible for the mistake to result in an injury?
Look at training, equipment, staffing, supervision, workplace design, procedures, maintenance, communication, and other relevant factors. Then correct the underlying problem.
9. Measure safety across the franchise system
Franchisors routinely measure sales, customer satisfaction, unit performance, and compliance. Safety deserves similar attention.
Depending on the business, useful measures can include:
- Injuries and incidents
- Near misses
- Safety inspections completed
- Hazards identified and corrected
- Training completion
- Repeat safety problems
- Preventive-maintenance completion
A unified franchise safety program also makes it easier to collect consistent information, establish benchmarks, and identify locations needing improvement.
10. Make safety part of the culture
Ultimately, the safest franchise isn’t necessarily the one with the longest safety manual. It’s the one where people believe they have permission to stop, speak up, and correct something that appears dangerous.
That begins with leadership.
If franchisees see the corporate office taking safety seriously, franchisees are more likely to take it seriously. If managers take it seriously, employees will understand that safety isn’t an inconvenience standing in the way of getting the job done.
Safety is part of getting the job done right.
The Bottom Line
The real goal shouldn’t be “How do we prevent employees from having accidents?”
It should be:
“How do we design our franchise system so that safe behavior becomes the easiest and most natural way to operate?”
That means building safety into procedures, training, equipment, maintenance, inspections, reporting, and leadership. OSHA’s guidance similarly treats prevention as a continuing process of identifying hazards, implementing controls, involving workers, and evaluating whether those controls remain effective.
For a franchise organization, that approach has another benefit: a lesson learned at one location can become prevention at every location.
