Each year, approximately 340 million occupational accidents occur globally. Millions of victims of these accidents succumb to the injuries they sustain.
These figures highlight the importance of workplace safety, regardless of the size of an organization or its industry. A company that doesn’t prioritize safety in the workplace puts its staff, clients, reputation, and bottom line in jeopardy. The ramifications of workplace accidents and injuries can be costly and far-flung.
It’s the reason you need to embrace the right approach to workplace safety. In this article, we answer two essential questions: why is safety important in the workplace and what measures can you implement to boost workplace safety?
Read on to learn more.
Why Is Safety Important?
A business that creates a safe working environment stands to benefit a lot. Below are nine top reasons workplace safety is advantageous to your organization.
1. Boost Employee Satisfaction
Your employees are your most valuable asset, and you need to find ways to keep them happy and satisfied continually. One of the most effective approaches to keeping your staff motivated is to provide a safe working environment for them.
Companies that offer protection to their workers against avoidable negative events keep stress levels low and maintain a positive working environment.
2. You Increase Productivity
For your company to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace, you need to optimize your employee’s potential. One way to inspire your employees to give their best is by creating a safe work environment for them. Employees usually work more efficiently when they don’t need to worry about getting injured or succumbing to work-related illnesses.
2. You Get To Reduce Employee Absenteeism
Employee absenteeism accounts for tens of billions of dollars in financial losses every year. In many cases, workers miss work as a result of on-the-job accidents and injuries. Each day an employee is absent from work negatively affects productivity.
Prioritizing health and safety in the workplace can drastically reduce accidents and injuries in your company. This, in turn, minimizes employee absenteeism and keeps productivity high.
3. Employee Turnover Rate Is Reduced
When employees feel satisfied, they’re more likely to remain in their job. On the other hand, employees who are continually forced to work in a hazardous environment are more inclined to seek employment somewhere else where they’ll feel safer.
High staff turnover can prove quite costly for your business. Your company’s productivity suffers significantly during the time you spend looking for and interviewing replacements. Additional costs are incurred when training new members of staff.
Worst of all, you get to lose your experienced personnel.
4. You Avoid Costly Insurance Claims
Employee insurance claims cost companies billions of dollars every year. Even a single claim can put a considerable dent in your company’s bottom line. Conversely, committing to workplace safety can significantly limit the prevalence of accidents and injuries in your organization.
Ultimately, you steer clear of expensive employee insurance claims arising from preventable incidents.
5. You keep Your Employees Healthy and Safe
Your business is no good without a team of motivated employees. Caring about the well-being of your staff is a clear indication that you care.
As a business owner, you have an obligation to safeguard your workers against potential dangers and to give them the support they require to keep themselves safe against such dangers. This includes the installation of behavioral safety products such as anti-ligature products.
6. You Avoid Legal Consequences
Different countries have different agencies that enforce health and safety laws to safeguard employees against workplace safety hazards. In the United States, OSHA provides the guidelines organizations need to follow as they create their health and safety procedures.
If OSHA discovers that your workplace is not safe for your workers, you may have to pay a hefty fine. Depending on how big your violation is, your company could even be shut down temporarily or permanently. In the end, disregarding the importance of safety in your work environment can lead to loss of business, time, money, and clients.
7. Safety Boost Your Brand Image
Companies that have few accidents at their workplaces are generally viewed favorably by the public. The modern client prefers to do business with companies who care about their staff as compared to companies that don’t. Bu building a favorable public image, you can increase customer retention and increase profitability.
9. You Get To Attract Top Talent
In today’s incredibly competitive economic space, the ability to attract and retain the best talent in the market is a great asset. The modern employee wants more than just an attractive paycheck to choose which company they’ll work for. Demonstrating that you can provide a safe workplace can work in your favor when seeking to recruit exceptional talent.
Measures for increasing Workplace Safety
While companies may differ in the way they operate, the measures they can take to enhance security are largely similar. Below are some of these measures.
Training the Staff
Each business needs to train their employees on appropriate safety measures to create a safe working environment. Provide first aid lessons so workers can offer basic medical assistance in case an employee gets injured while on duty. Doing so can help minimize work-related fatalities.
Implement a Safety Incentive Plan
A safety incentive plan can dramatically decrease accidents at the workplace as it helps employees make effective decisions when faced with potential danger. Come up with procedural manuals and promotion videos containing helpful workplace safety information and distribute them to your employees.
Insist on Employees Using Protective Gear Safety Equipment
Depending on the nature of your business, equip your employees with the right protective safety gear and equipment to safeguard them from mechanical, chemical, or radiological hazards. These may include helmets, masks, gloves, eyewear, boots, and so on.
Boosting Workplace Security Pays
Now that you have the answer to the question, ‘why is safety important in the workplace,’ it’s time to start implementing measures that’ll help keep your employees secure while they’re working. If you can begin to minimize or avoid on-the-job accidents and injuries, your profits should start to go up in no time.
Would you like to read more great content like this? Please keep visiting our website.
Leave a Reply