Investing in Workplace Safety Can Really Pay Off

April 28, 2015

Today is the World Day for Safety and Health at Work – and there are a lot of good reasons to put worker safety at the top of your “to do” list. If you’re a company looking for additional ways to add to your bottom line, you might want to look into your worker-safety program. According to the United States Department of Labor, businesses spend $170 billion a year on costs associated with occupational injuries and illnesses. But workplaces that establish safety and health management systems can reduce their injury and illness costs by 20 to 40 percent.

Often, investing in workplace safety can be the difference between operating in the black and running in the red. The key is to establish not just a safety and health practice, but a culture of safety that touches every part of your business and every person who works in it. This, according to the United Nations, needs to be a collaborative effort between employers and workers. “As employers we are responsible for ensuring that the working environment is safe and healthy. As workers we are responsible to work safely and to protect ourselves and not to endanger others, to know our rights and to participate in the implementation of preventive measures.”

Here are a few tips to help you create a culture of safety and health at your company.
 

  1. Empower Your Employees to Observe and Correct Hazards. By empowering your employees, they will know you’re “walking the talk” when it comes to their safety. Be sure to have a process to report, correct and document all that’s being done to help make your workplace safer.
  2. Insist That Personal Protection Equipment is Worn at All Times. Get your employees to think of it as “dressing for success.” Make sure you have processes in place so that everyone knows when and how to use their personal protection equipment and how to maintain it.
  3. Create a Safety Committee and Respect Their Recommendations. In an ideal safety culture, your committee will meet on a regular basis, stay on top of the latest workplace safety trends, and make recommendations to management about safety training and capital expenses.
  4. Commit – from Top-to-Bottom of the Organization – to Making Safety a Priority. Your employees will take their cue from you. If you take workplace safety seriously, and make it a priority, so will they.

How’s the best way to commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work? By making every day one in which you focus on workplace safety…starting today.

Menu