What are the benefits of having a safety programme? First and foremost, it has become too expensive to have people hurt.
Table of Contents
The Benefits of Having a Successful Safety Program
What are the benefits of having a safety programme? First and foremost, it has become too expensive to have people hurt. This covers your own workers, as well as the employees of your customers and the broader public. It has come to my attention that many of the managers with whom I have worked had no notion what the entire cost of accidents and injuries had been to their firm. No general manager I’ve ever heard of has ever claimed that the overall cost was less than anticipated once the full expenditures had been tallied. If you create a cost-effective safety programme only for monetary reasons, you will be handsomely rewarded for your efforts.
There are a variety of additional compelling reasons to implement a comprehensive safety policy. The second reason, and this is a very important one, is that we have a moral duty as employers to offer a safe and healthy workplace. Others managers are not especially motivated by this moral factor, and some may be completely unmotivated by it. When a safety specialist, I have personally reviewed a number of significant injuries, and in almost all cases, the top management of the company was visibly concerned as they considered the suffering and handicap that had been caused as a consequence of the injury. These were real sentiments that were validated by the fact that remedial action was nearly always done to avoid a recurrence of the situation. Although management could not reverse the devastating results of these previous events, it could prevent them from happening again in the future. At this stage, the majority of managers are interested in taking action to avoid injuries because they feel a sense of responsibility for the well-being of their staff and consumers, respectively.
Improved staff morale is another advantage of the moral response strategy to be considered. There is no one who would want to work for a corporation that has little or no respect for them as individuals. We often think that the major motive of employees is monetary gain. Many studies indicate that it ranks fourth or fifth out of ten, ranking behind work security, job satisfaction, and other factors, once one’s salary is adequate to meet one’s fundamental necessities.
A widespread assumption is that if we give our workers a high hourly wage, they should be more cautious about their own safety. This just isn’t the case. On the workplace, there is a shocking absence of instinctive self-protectiveness. However, when given sufficient job instruction, timely feedback on their performance, and some basic training in safe work practises, the vast majority of workers will do their duties safely and effectively.
The third reason for implementing a safety programme is because it is required by law. It is necessary to comply with several laws and rules at the federal, state, municipal, and international levels. With a well developed and executed safety programme, it is possible to meet the criteria of OSHA, state and federal departments of transportation, and local governments.
It seems to be an excessive amount of effort, difficulty, time, and so on (you fill in the blanks). You may wonder what’s in it for me. There is a proper way to do a task, which in most situations also happens to be the safest, most efficient, and most importantly, the one that results in the least amount of product damage.
Keep in mind that, in the majority of situations, accidents do not result in injury. In reality, they are more likely to result in product or equipment damage, which is generally regarded as a necessary part of the business process by the public. The number of maintenance repair orders and fees for repairs on an overhead car door that I’ve seen is astronomical. Rather than wearing out every two months, the door was running out of “new” when a vehicle or forklift collided with the structure.
What is it about the situation that isn’t getting better?
In order to establish a successful safety programme, management has not invested the minimal amount of time and effort required. Management acknowledges that the escalating cost of insurance is an inescapable and uncontrolled part of doing company and accepts it as an unavoidable and uncontrollable part of doing business. Workers have the mentality of “If they don’t care, why should I?” they reason. In many instances, employees have never been informed of the expectations placed on them. Management and hourly workers were never given the responsibility for workplace safety. Attitudes such as “that’s someone else’s duty” are prevalent.
Why hasn’t the situation deteriorated further?
We are fortunate in that we have some excellent personnel that are self-motivated to provide excellent service. They operate in a safe and efficient way, taking care not to harm equipment or merchandise. Sometimes it is best to use your common sense. We gain knowledge from our errors. (However, this is a highly time-consuming and expensive method of learning.) It’s possible that some initiatives toward increased safety have been made in the past.
You may obtain enhanced motivation, improved morale, and improved productivity by implementing a successful safety and loss control programme. As a result, you can reach your ultimate objective of increased profitability. The most interesting part of this programme is that it is accomplished without the need for considerable capital investment or money.