Welcome to our comprehensive collection of safety quotes! We understand the importance of safety training and its role in preventing accidents and injuries in the workplace. That’s why we’ve gathered together the biggest and best list of quotes on the subject from experts and thought leaders in the field.
We hope that these quotes will serve as inspiration and motivation for you and your team as you strive to create a safe and healthy work environment. Whether you’re a safety professional looking for new ways to educate and engage your team, or an employee seeking guidance and encouragement, we believe there is something on this list for everyone.
We are confident that you will find these quotes to be both informative and inspiring, and we hope that you will benefit from them as much as we have. So take a moment to browse through the list, and remember: safety is everyone’s responsibility.
- A culture of safety is not a concept. It is a way of life. – J.D. Power
- A great safety culture: when people continue to work safely and do the right thing, even when no one is watching. – Unknown
- A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. – Unknown
- A safe workplace is a productive workplace.
- Accidents don’t just happen – they are caused. And they can be prevented. – Unknown
- Accidents hurt, but safety doesn’t. – Unknown
- All this health and safety talk is just killing me. – Jeremy Clarkson
- Alternate tasks whenever possible, mixing non-computer-related tasks into the workday. This encourages body movement and the use of different muscle groups. – Occupational Safety and
- Health Administration (OSHA)
- An incident is just the tip of the iceberg, a sign of a much larger problem below the surface. – Don Brown
- An injury to one is an injury to all.
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. – Benjamin Franklin
- Any worker should be able to stop work if they feel a danger to continuing operations. – Sean Lucas
- Ask the people who work in the warehouse to start thinking about safety, and on a regular, periodic basis, review and discuss how they might work better. I encourage people to put a meeting on a calendar once a month, at least to come together for an hour or 90 minutes to discuss ideas for improvement. – Joseph Flahiff, author of “Being Agile in a Waterfall World: A practical guide for complex organizations.
- At the end of the day, the goals are simple: Safety and security. – Jodi Rell, former Governor of Connecticut
- Be careful! This machine has no brain; Use your own. – Unknown
- Better a thousand times careful than once dead. – Unknown
- Better Safe than Sorry – Samuel Lover
- Big or small, fire safety is for all. – Unknown
- Carefulness costs you nothing. Carelessness may cost you your life. – Safety saying, circa the early 1900s
- Chance takers are accident makers. – Unknown
- Check yourself before you wreck yourself. – Meg Cabot
- Concern for man and his safety must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. – Albert Einstein
- Confidence cannot find a place wherein to rest in safety. – Virgil
- Deterrence is not a preeminent value; the primary values are safety and morality. – Herman Kahn
- Do not think because an accident hasn’t happened to you that, it can’t happen. – Unknown
- Don’t learn safety by accident. – Jerry Smith
- Don’t get carried away-look out for forklifts. – Unknown
- Don’t let your dreams go up in smoke-practice fire safety. – Unknown
- Don’t turn your back on safety; if it’s unsafe, report it! – Unknown
- Error is pervasive. The unexpected is pervasive… What is not pervasive are well-developed skills to detect and contain these errors at their early stages. – Karl E. Weick
- Every accident is a notice that something is wrong with men, methods, or material – investigate – then act. – Unknown
- The fast drive could be the last drive. – Unknown
- Fire can kill. Don’t be a statistic! – Unknown
- Fire destruction is one man’s job; fire prevention is everybody’s job. – Unknown
- Fire is a good servant but a bad master. – Unknown
- The government’s first duty and highest obligation is public safety. – Arnold Schwarzenegger
- He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything. – Unknown
- How employees manage health and safety in the workplace or how labor rights are respected are issues important for employees and investors alike. Companies can, and should do good right alongside doing well. – Tim Smith
- I do care a great deal about the environment. Still, my real work and my greatest challenge are trying to overcome deceits that end up jeopardizing public health and safety. – Erin Brockovich
- I never thought I’d hear myself say it, but safety comes first! – J. K. Rowling
- I’m glad to see how young people are stepping up regarding 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
- I’ve met up with some legless, armless, and other badly messed-up folks. There’s a whole lot of mighty serious accident contemplation going on in our hospitals. My observations have taught me that it is much better to think about accidents before they happen than to brood over them afterward. … Personally, I’d rather be late for dinner tonight than be on time for breakfast in the next world in the morning. Haste makes waste of a lot of good human material. – Irvin S. Cobb, author
- If safety is a joke, then death is the punchline. – Paul Laforest.
- If the owner or manager does not show an interest in preventing employee injury and illness, then the employees will probably not give it much thought either. – Rhode Island Small Business Recovery Program
- If you are the proprietor or managing director of a company, you are ultimately responsible for the health and safety of all aspects of the business. – Unknown
- 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
- If you don’t think it is safe, it probably isn’t. – Jerry Smith
- If you put good people in bad systems, you get bad results. You have to water the flowers you want to grow. – Stephen Covey
- If you think professional safety officers are expensive, wait until you see what an amateur costs. – Unknown
- If you think safety rules are a pain. Try having an accident. – Unknown
- In case of fire, exit the building before tweeting about it. – Unknown
- In case of fire, gently wake sleeping employees to prevent causing nervous shock. Then leave the building as quickly as you do at closing time. – Unknown
- In safety, there is no finish line.
- It costs less to be safe every day than to make one careless mistake along the way. – Unknown
- It is essential to have good tools, but it is also essential that the tools should be used in the right way. – Wallace D. Wattles
- It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. – Mahatma Gandhi
- It is my sincere wish and hopes that the day will come when the protecting arms of Universal Safety will spread out over all industries and reach all the millions of workers who make the industry possible. – Charles M. Schwab, steel magnate born in 1862
- It matters little how much equipment we use; it matters much that we are masters of all we use. – Sam Abell
- It takes leadership to improve safety. – Jackie Stewart
- It’s very isolating when you think you are the only one struggling. – Adam Kay
- Kelly was a seaman, and his life on the water followed a strict routine, which meant observing all the safety rules written in the blood of less careful men. – Author Tom Clancy, Without Remorse
- Kill fire before it kills you. – Unknown
- Let’s blaze the way to keep the blaze away. – Unknown
- Let’s manage safety by recognizing how humans are and stop managing safety the way we wish humans were. – Unknown
- Luck runs out, but safety is good for life. – Unknown
- Make safety a reality, and don’t be a fatality. – Unknown
- Measuring Safety Performance by the number of injuries you have is like measuring parenting by the number of smacks you give. – Dr. Robert Long
- Never stop investing … never stop learning – Captain Sully, at the SafetyCulture Virtual Summit. (Check out Made Extraordinary Summit 2021)
- Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly. – Mother Teresa
- No Safety, Know Pain. Know Safety, No Pain. – Unknown
- Not responding is a response – we are equally responsible for what we don’t do. – Jonathan Safran Foer
- Nothing is of greater importance than the conservation of human life. – Former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
- Occupational safety and health are vital to the dignity of work. – Juan Somavia
- Of the major incentives to improve safety, by far the most compelling is that of economics. The moral incentive, which is most evident following an accident, is more intense but is relatively short-lived. – Jerome F. Lederer
- Off-the-shelf Safety Systems – if you want a good dust collector, buy a vacuum cleaner. – Dave Collins
- One earnest worker can do more by personal suggestion to prevent accidents than a carload of safety signs. – Making Paper
- One is not exposed to danger, even when safety is always on their guard. – Publilius Syrus
- Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging. – Joseph Campbell
- Our motto is to work for peace based on social justice. Our mandate is to improve the condition, health and safety of workers, and our mission is universal. – David A. Morse
- Paper doesn’t save people; people save people – Dan Petersen, Safety Professional
- People don’t care what you know until they know you care. – Corrie Pitzer
- Precaution is better than cure. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Prepare and prevent, don’t repair and repent. – Author unknown
- Protect your hands; you need them to pick up your paycheck. – Unknown
- Safety and security don’t just happen; they result from collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear. – Nelson Mandela
- Safety applies with equal force to the individual, to the family, the employer, the state, the nation, and to international affairs. Safety, in its widest sense, concerns the happiness, contentment, and freedom of mankind. – William M. Jeffers, former President, Union Pacific Railroad Co. (1946)
- Safety brings first aid to the uninjured. – F.S. Hughes
- Safety does not come with luck. It has to be prepared. – Unknown
- Safety doesn’t happen by accident. – Jerry Smith
- Safety First is Safety Always. – Charles Melville Hays
- Safety first; progress must. Every day is a safety day; safety has no holiday. Life is rare; live with care. – Unknown
- 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)
- Safety is 30%. Common Sense, 80%. Compliance and the rest are good luck. – Barry Spud
- Safety is a basic human need. People with a sense of security and belonging are stabilized for learning, creating, and innovating. A group of wonderfully cared-for, confident individuals will generate great ideas. – John Sweeney
- Safety is a cheap and effective insurance policy. – Unknown
- Safety is a choice you make every day.
- Safety is a culture, not a program. It’s a way of life, not a one-time event. – Unknown
- Safety is a full-time job – never leave it on the job site. – Unknown
- Safety is a journey, not a destination. It is a mindset, not a set of rules. – Unknown
- Safety is a leadership issue – it starts at the top and works its way down. – Unknown
- Safety is a mindset, not just a rule.
- Safety is a state of mind – a way of life. It’s not just about wearing the right gear or following the right procedures. It’s about being aware of your surroundings and the potential dangers and taking the necessary precautions to avoid them. – Unknown
- Safety is a team effort – we’re all in this together.
- Safety is an attitude that involves everyone every day. – OSHA
- Safety is gainful; accident is painful. – Unknown
- Safety is never ‘attained’ but a work in progress in tension between ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable) and the Precautionary Principle. – Rob Long
- Safety is never a permanent state of affairs. – Davos Seaworth
- Safety is no accident. – Unknown
- Safety is not a cost – it is an investment. – Unknown
- Safety is not a gadget – it is a state of mind. – Eleanor Everet
- Safety is not a job for the faint of heart. It requires a commitment to excellence, attention to detail, and a never-ending quest for improvement. – Unknown
- Safety is not a matter of luck – it is a matter of choice. – Unknown
- Safety is not a one-time event – it is an ongoing process. – Unknown
- Safety is not a responsibility – it is an obligation. – Unknown
- Safety is not a slogan – it is a way of life. – Unknown
- Safety is not an inconvenience – it is a necessity. – Unknown
- 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 the Piper Alpha Accident
- Safety is not an option – it’s a necessity. – Unknown
- Safety is not just a matter of compliance – it is a matter of conscience. – Unknown
- Safety is not just a word – it is a way of life. – Unknown
- Safety is not just about the absence of harm – it’s about the presence of good. – Unknown
- Safety is not something that just happens – it is something that must be planned, practiced, and promoted. – Unknown
- Safety is our first concern, not deadlines. Nothing will happen until everything is ready and we’re absolutely confident. This will be a safe operation. – Mikhail Manin
- Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands. – Jeff Cooper
- Safety is the most basic task of all. Without a sense of safety, no growth can take place. Without safety, all energy goes to defense. – Torey L. Hayden
- Safety isn’t just about following rules – it’s about looking out for each other.
- Safety isn’t expensive; it’s priceless. – Jerry Smith
- Safety quotes to boost in the workplace: The future of the safety movement – Walter Dill Scott
- Safety saves sickness, suffering, and sadness. – Safety saying, circa the early 1900s
- Safety should never be a priority. It should be a precondition. – Paul O Neill
- Safety work is today recognized as an economic necessity. It is the study of the right way to do things. – Robert W. Campbell, first president of the National Safety Council
- Save lives, from the workplace to any place. – Unknown
- Shallow men believe in luck; wise and strong men believe in cause and effect. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Shortcuts cut life short. – Unknown
- Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. – Warren Buffett, investor, and philanthropist
- Studies show that a trusting workplace increases employees’ levels of happiness, work effort, productivity, and engagement. It also provides an environment that encourages open communication and encourages people to share their ideas. – Arthur Miller
- Teaching the world to be careful is a constructive service worthy of God’s great gift of life to man. – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harold H. Burton (1946)
- Technology is moving at a much faster clip than our laws can keep up with. – Deborah Hersman, former president and CEO of the National Safety Council
- Ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes, one nose – Safety Counts. – Unknown
- The automobile has brought death, injury, and the most inestimable sorrow and deprivation to millions of people. – Ralph Nader, car safety reform advocate (1965)
- The best drivers are aware that they must be beware. – Unknown
- The best safety device is a well-trained employee.
- The danger which is least expected soonest comes to us. – Voltaire, French dramatist, poet and reformer born in 1694
- The economic waste resulting from carelessness is appalling, but anyone who stops for a moment to consider the sorrow and desolation brought into thousands of lives each year by utter thoughtlessness must feel a new resolve to make a habit of safety first. – W. C. Durant
- The future of the safety movement is not so much dependent upon the invention of safety devices as on the improvement of methods of educating people to the ideal of caution and safety. – Walter Dill Scott
- The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on. – Barack Obama
- The greatest responsibility of a leader is to give the people in your span of care a grounded sense of hope for the future – Bob Chapman, Made Extraordinary Summit
- The key to safety is in your hands. – Unknown
- The only thing more costly than investing in safety is the cost of a safety failure. – Unknown
- The outcome of safety is the sum of the decisions and actions of the individuals in a workplace. – Unknown
- The price of safety is eternal vigilance. – Unknown
- The real enemy of safety is not non-compliance but non-thinking. – Rob Long
- The safety of the people shall be the highest law. – Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman philosopher born in 106 BC
- 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)
- The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. – Confucius
- The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King Jr.
- The way to be safe is never to be secure. – Benjamin Franklin
- There are no shortcuts to safety – it’s a journey, not a destination. – Unknown
- There is a good chance; an accident brought you into this world. Don’t let one take you out. – Unknown
- There is no substitute for knowledge, training, and experience when it comes to safety. – Unknown
- There is no such thing as an accident, only a failure to recognize the hand of fate. – Napoleon
- There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits. – Michael Phelps
- There’s no better policy in society than pursuing the health and safety of its people. – Ralph Nader
- They were willing to work all the time, and when people did their best, ought they not to be able to stay alive? – Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
- Think of fire before it starts. – Unknown
- Think you’re safe? Well, think again, and again… – Unknown
- Think! Do it the safe way; do it the right way; do it every day. – Unknown
- Tomorrow: your reward for working safely today. – Robert Pelton
- Treating employees benevolently shouldn’t be viewed as an added cost that cuts into profits but as a powerful energizer that can grow the enterprise into something far greater than one leader could envision. – Harold Schultz
- We believe a happy employee will lead directly to happy customers. – Chris Hammond
- We must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them. – Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy
- What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; except for workplace hazards, if they don’t kill you, they can leave you with a lifelong disability. – Unknown
- What would we do if a plane crashed today and 100 people died? What would we do if it happened again tomorrow? And the next day? We’d ground air traffic. We wouldn’t live with that. It’s been going on daily on our nation’s roadways for the last 40, 50, or 60 years. – David Teater, former NSC Transportation Expert
- When it comes down to it, safety is a priority in a warehouse – after safety, you can think about efficiency. The last thing you want to do is put your warehouse workers in danger – to boost your profit margins. A safe warehouse is an efficient warehouse. – Business First Family Organization
- When safety is first, you last. – Unknown
- When safety professionals’ risk tolerance is out of alignment with societal norms, the safety professional is doomed to a life of frustration. – Phil LaDuke
- When we think about being the most customer-centric organization, we (also) want to be the most safety-centric organization in the world. – Marla Corson, director, Amazon North America
- Customer Fulfillment, Environmental Health, and Safety
- Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety – Proverbs 11:14 (King James Version)
- Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right. – Henry Ford
- Whoever is happy will make others happy too. – Anne Frank
- Work injuries and illnesses can affect every aspect of life for workers and their families. – Maine Department of Labor
- Work safely today. Remember, somebody expects you home tonight. – Unknown
- Working safely is like breathing – if you don’t, you die. – Jerry Smith
- Working safely may get old, but so do those who practice it. – Unknown
- Working virtually 100% indoors, in a seated position, and usually talking on a phone, writing, or typing on a computer paves the way for some top injuries … to develop. – Albert Einstein
- Working without safety is a dead-end job. – Unknown
- Yellow lines on the floor are your lifelines. Please follow the traffic rules. – Unknown
- You are your own last line of defense in safety. It all boils down to you. – Kina Repp
- You don’t need to know the whole alphabet of Safety. The A, B, and C of it will save you if you follow it: Always Be Careful. – Mines Magazine (Colorado School of Mines)
- Your employees learn by example. If they don’t see you practicing good safety habits, they won’t think safety is important. – Electrical Construction & Maintenance
- Your wife will spend your 401K; If you get killed at work today. – Unknown
Bonus Quotes
- “It’s better to lose one minute in life than to lose life in a minute.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “The door to safety swings on the hinges of common sense.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “To avoid a scene, keep your workspace clean.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Remember, shortcuts might save time, but safety saves lives.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “If the sign says ‘Warning,’ pay attention. It’s there for a darn good reason.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety starts within, not with a sign on the wall.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “When it comes to safety, complacency is the enemy.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Don’t wait for others to protect you; take charge of your own safety.”– Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety is not just company policy, it’s your personal responsibility.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Your well-being is in your hands; never rely solely on others for safety.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “A safety-first mindset is only as strong as the individual who practices it.”– Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Vigilance, awareness, and personal responsibility are the pillars of safety.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “In the face of danger, your safety is your own responsibility.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety isn’t a one-time decision; it’s a mindset you carry with you every day.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Be your own safety advocate; no one cares about your well-being more than you.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “The key to safety is staying focused, alert, and always prepared.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “When safety becomes routine, the risk of accidents increases.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety is a priority, but personal responsibility must come first.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “To stay safe, keep your eyes open and your mind sharp.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Never assume someone else is looking out for your safety; be proactive.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Remember, your safety lies in your own hands, not just in the rules and regulations.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “In the pursuit of safety, never forget that you are your own best advocate.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety training is an investment in our employees’ well-being, and a commitment to their future.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Through knowledge, we empower our workforce to create a safer and healthier work environment.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “When we prioritize safety education, we are prioritizing our employees and their families.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “The key to a successful business is a well-trained, safety-conscious workforce.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety is a team effort – let’s learn together, work together, and stay safe together.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Compliance is just the beginning; strive for a culture of safety that goes above and beyond.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety training today, saves lives and dollars tomorrow.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Remember, a safe workplace is a productive workplace – invest in your employees’ safety.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Learning about safety is not just a requirement, it’s a responsibility we all share.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com
- “Safety training is a continuous journey, and together we’ll create a workplace where everyone thrives.” – Source: https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com