Remember the Suggestion Box? It was a box with a slit in the top that allowed people to write down suggestions for improvement and, often anonymously, leave them for someone else to take care of. Mostly the box has gone away because people didn’t take the time to write their ideas down and/or the messages went unread. Still, there are times when it’s imperative to provide ways for citizens to communicate their concerns –especially if the well-being of an individual or the public is involved. A person may not want to say anything about a city worker mowing without the shield on the lawn mower or not want to mention that there needs to be better street signage near the school. Speaking up takes time and effort and they may not know who to talk to about their concerns or how. Not speaking up could mean someone getting injured or opening up a municipality to liability. It’s in the best interest of any community that people feel free to speak up about safety issues. So how do you promote communicating about safety in your community?
A convenient way for people to report safety issues is to provide them with an email address to answer questions or report concerns. You can use something like safecity@mycity.org or another email that specifies safety. Put up flyers with the email address, asking people to report safety issues. Make sure you check the email inbox regularly and reply promptly.
If you don’t already have a Facebook page, set one up and post items about safety to show that risk management is a community priority- using the option to monitor the posts before they appear on the page. Check the direct messages often to read concerns that people may send through Facebook.
Allow time at the end of a city or village board meeting for an occasional presentation about safety. Consider setting up a citizen safety committee that looks at safety issues in the city or village. You may think that people will call or make a point to visit with elected and appointed officials, but many do not take that step. They may feel more comfortable attending an organized event like a town hall meeting at the coffee shop, inviting them to discuss city or village safety issues.
Safety should be an ongoing dialogue between city officials, staff, and the community so that different perspectives can be represented, with the message that all are responsible for safety in a community.
Last but not least, consider placing a Safety Suggestion Box on the counter at the city office. There just might be a suggestion for safety that no one had ever thought of with the result that an injury in the community was prevented.
