The employee empowerment process is something we usually see discussed in the pages of Forbes or Bloomberg Businessweek, but empowerment is just as important for you and your workers as it is for the C-Suite. In fact, given that safety is on the line, it may be even more important. We’ve spoken to safety managers in various industries about how they empower their workers.

One of your biggest challenges as a Safety Manager may be creating a culture of safety throughout your organization. Making it a company-wide effort instead of just “your job” can be an uphill battle, but it’s a policy that will pay off in the end. Whether you already have companywide buy-in or if you’re just beginning to introduce the idea, maximize your success by including these five steps in your safety culture planning:

Reminding workers to wear their PPE is a big part of keeping them safe. But as a busy safety manager, the last thing you want is to be your company’s new CNO – Chief Nagging Officer! You can make your job easier while making your workers happier and safer by implementing an easy PPE Wear Testing Program.

Most of us have had at least one boss who tells workers to “leave their personal problems at the door!” But that advice was never very realistic. And in this day of texting, social media, and a phone in everyone’s pocket, it’s even less likely. The communication age makes it more important than ever to make stress management a high priority both to keep workers safer and to avoid hits to your company’s bottom line.

We all know that good safety training helps to keep workers safe. But anyone who ever crammed for a test in school knows that something you memorize for just one day is something you’ll forget next week. So what can you do to ensure that the safety lessons learned in training stick with your workers on the job?