For most industries, safety is a cost overhead. Although essential, it can slow down productivity or even, in the event of a safety incident, lead to a complete stop while issues are resolved, and investigations carried out. However, if the approach to safety changes from a reactive one to proactive, it can become an aid to achieving greater efficiency, lower costs, and higher profit margins.
Preventable injuries culminate from a series of sequential events, as represented by five dominos. The first represents the task or situation, followed by some faulty worker decision, resulting in the unsafe action, which leads to an accident and the inevitable injury. By tipping the first domino all tend to fall, and by removing some of the intervening domino the accident can be eliminated. Hence the belief that workers decisions or actions are the primary cause of accidents.
No matter what hustle culture might try to teach us, people are not machines. They get tired when overworked, and fatigue can create a safety hazard. This is especially true in industrial settings, where the presence of heavy machinery and other potential workplace hazards make alertness more critical for employees.
Employers have a responsibility to anticipate and manage operational risks to protect workers, ensure compliance and promote the health of the organization.
Cybersecurity is one of the most crucial workplace safety considerations today. As businesses implement more digital technologies, cyberattacks become more likely and potentially damaging. This trend is particularly concerning for critical infrastructure.
The shift of environmental, social, and governance from optional PR reporting to a mandatory requirement has many companies reevaluating how they use data.
Unfortunately, with many having actively protested exposure prevention protocols since the emergency of the COVID-19 virus and many actively protesting vaccinations, methods to counter the virus are being bypassed by a large percentage of the population; in turn, this is enabling the possibility for COVID-19 to linger and/or return.
Most workers in the United States are protected from retaliation for raising workplace health and safety concerns and for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses. While these protections have been in place for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a record number of complaints from covered employees claiming retaliation by their employer. Since
Corrie Pitzer, a regular speaker at the National Safety Congress & Expo, kicked off Tuesday’s agenda with a “preview” of the opportunities and risks confronting safety and health professionals in a post-Covid world.
Culture is difficult to quantify yet remains a crucial aspect of workplace safety. Most facilities understand the need for specific safety rules and protocols, but company culture — the beliefs, values, and attitudes of the workforce — often goes underemphasized. That shouldn’t be the case.
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