Top 20+ Safety Quotes To Improve Your Safety Culture

Since the pandemic started, getting the right Health and Safety communications in place has been a scramble for workplaces across all industries. Every business needs to gather information quickly, pivot their processes effectively, and distribute critical yet clear communications at a moment’s notice.

You probably asked yourself questions such as:

• Have we used the right messaging to our teams?
• Have we put up adequate signage for employees?
• Are we doing all we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19?

Safety quotes are a great way to communicate key safety concepts clearly and make sure your team is always on the lookout for potential safety issues at the same time.

Illustrate your safety quotes and bring them to life. Display them around your workplace, or add them to internal newsletters. Make an impact and get your point across, whether it’s to motivate, inspire or to keep the workplace safe. Your workplace will be better off for it.

Without further ado, here’s 20 workplace safety quotes and inspirational safety messages that we’ve put together:

1. “The greatest responsibility of a leader is to give the people in your span of care grounded sense of hope for the future” – Bob Chapman, Made Extraordinary Summit
2. “Safety has to be everyone’s responsibility… everyone needs to know that they are empowered to speak up if there’s an issue.” – Captain Scott Kelly. (Check out Made Extraordinary Summit 2021)
3. “If you don’t know, ask. Working with people is far better than working against them — always bring together all the people and information available to you!” – Aidan O’Shannessy, The Block Site Manager
4. “No Safety, Know Pain. Know Safety, No Pain.” – Author unknown
5. “Paper doesn’t save people, people save people” – Dan Petersen, Safety Professional
6. “Safety doesn’t happen by accident.” – Author unknown
7. “When safety is first, you last.” – Author unknown
8. “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.” – Author unknown
9. “Accidents hurt, safety doesn’t.” – Author unknown
10. “Every accident is a notice that something is wrong with men, methods, or material — investigate — then act.” – Unknown
11. “One earnest worker can do more by personal suggestion to prevent accidents than a carload of safety signs.” – Making Paper
12. “Safety saves sickness, suffering, sadness.” – Safety saying, circa early 1900s
13. “Never stop investing … never stop learning” – Captain Sully, at the SafetyCulture Virtual Summit. (Check out Made Extraordinary Summit 2021)
14. “Safety brings first aid to the uninjured.” – F.S. Hughes
15. “You don’t need to know the whole alphabet of Safety. The a, b, c of it will save you if you follow it: Always Be Careful.” – Colorado School of Mines Magazine
16. “Do not think because an accident hasn’t happened to you that it can’t happen.” – Safety saying, circa early 1900s
17. “Carefulness costs you nothing. Carelessness may cost you your life.” – Safety saying, circa early 1900s
18. “For safety is not a gadget but a state of mind.” – Eleanor Everet
19. “An incident is just the tip of the iceberg, a sign of a much larger problem below the surface.” – Don Brown
20. “Prepare and prevent, don’t repair and repent.” – Author unknown
21. “Measuring performance by the numbers of injuries you have is like measuring parenting by the number of smacks you give.” – Dr. Robert Long
22. “If you put good people in bad systems, you get bad results. You have to water the flowers you want to grow.” – Stephen Covey
23. “A chain is only as long as the weakest link.” – Unknown
24. “Shortcuts cut life short.” – Unknown
25. “You are your last line of defense in safety. It boils down to you.” – Kina Repp
26. “Luck runs out but safety is good for life.” – Author unknown
27. “Working safely may get old, but so do those who practice it.” – Author unknown
28. “Safety isn’t expensive, it’s priceless.” – Author unknown
29. “It takes leadership to improve safety.” – Jackie Stewart
30. “I’m glad to see how young people are stepping up when it comes to safety. They are focused on safety rather than being told to be safe. It makes a difference when people own things.” – Scott Cam, The Block
31. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” – Benjamin Franklin
32. “Safety is not an intellectual exercise to keep us in work. It is a matter of life and death. It is the sum of our contributions to safety management that determines whether the people we work with live or die.” – Sir Brian Appleton, Technical Adviser to the Enquiry on Piper Alpha Accident
33. “The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself, but the inexperienced keep right on going and suffer the consequences” – Proverbs 22:3 (New World Translation)
34. “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” – Proverbs 11:14 (King James Version)
35. “Invest in data protection. You need it nowadays.” – Author unknown
36. “Your values will be your compass and guide you in the right direction.” – Allison Dunn, Deliberate Directions
37. “You need to know pro and cons of ehr implementation to make safe your patient and practices information.” – Author unknown
38. “Always invest into the training of your team, as their safety is the most important aspect of keeping your crew running.” – a1autotransport.com
39. “When disaster recovery is prioritized, resilience prevails.” – Author Unknown

Good safety quotes can pick us up when we’re feeling unmotivated and can be a great tool to help keep your employees focused on safety. With government guidelines constantly evolving, and pandemic fatigue settling in, internal and external communications have become more important than ever. We need to be extra careful when speaking to teams and to customers, and ensure the messaging is clear, reliable and motivating. Whether you’re a leader or a team member, the easiest way to keep your team safe is to make it everybody’s business.

Empower your teams to make safety a priority. Also make sure you keep track of your team’s time spent with a time card app, so not only can you stay safe but your processes can be accurate. Help your team do their best work, the safest way possible. SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is a digital platform that dedicates itself to improving safety, quality, and collaboration across the organization.

See how SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is being used by multiple industries across the globe.

Important Notice
The information contained in this article is general in nature and you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your specific needs. Legal and other matters referred to in this article are based on our interpretation of laws existing at the time and should not be relied on in place of professional advice. We are not responsible for the content of any site owned by a third party that may be linked to this article. SafetyCulture disclaims all liability (except for any liability which by law cannot be excluded) for any error, inaccuracy, or omission from the information contained in this article, any site linked to this article, and any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.