The importance of safety

1. The Importance of Safety
Employee safetyisatopconcernof any responsible organization.Notonlycansafetyincidents
resultininjuriesorlossof life,buttheyalsonegativelyaffectthe organization’sbottomline (e.g.,
losttime,raisedinsurance rates,lawsuits),andultimatelydamage itspublicrelationsimagewith
stakeholders,the communityandpotential jobcandidates.Organizationsdotominimize risk
exposure by building astrong safetyculture.Thisgoeswellbeyondregulatorycompliance;
companieswiththe bestsafetyrecordshave aconvictionthataccidentsandinjuriesare
unacceptable,anddeveloptheirownbestpracticestoenhance safetyperformance. Further,they
believeinthe businessbenefitsof valuingsafety,bothdirectly(reducedcosts) andindirectly
(improvedmorale andproductivity).
A seriousworkplace injuryordeathchangeslivesforever –forfamilies,friends,communities,and
coworkerstoo.Humanlossand sufferingisimmeasurable. Occupational injuriesandillnessescan
provoke majorcrises forthe familiesinwhichtheyoccur.Inadditiontomajorfinancial burdens,
theycan impose substantial timedemandsonuninjuredfamilymembers.
Everypersonwholeavesforworkinthe morningshouldexpecttoreturnhome at nightingood
health.Ensuringthathusbandsreturntotheirwives,wivestotheirhusbands,parentstotheir
children,andfriendstotheirfriends — thatisthe mostimportantreasontocreate a safe and
healthyworkenvironment.
Other Important Reason:-
ReducingInjuriesReducesCosts To Your Business:
If a workerisinjuredonthe job,itcosts the companyin lostworkhours,increasedinsurance rates,
workers’compensationpremiumsandpossible litigation.Productivityislostwhenotherworkers
have to stopwork to deal withthe injury.Evenafterthe injuredemployeehasbeensenthome or
takento the hospital,otheremployeesmaybe distractedorneedtotake time off fromworkin the
aftermathof the incident.Evenasingle injurycanhave far-reachinganddebilitatingeffectsonyour
business.
Safe WorkersAre Loyal Workers:
Anybusinessknowsthatemployeeattritionandabsenteeismcanbe majorobstacles.Whenyou
create a healthyandsafe workplace,youreduce those issuesinseveral ways.Bybudgetingfor
safetyimprovementsandmakingsafetypartof youroperational plan,youengendertrust.By
involvingemployeesinsafetydecisions—throughreporting,committees,walk-throughsand
meetings—youshow thattheiropinionmatterstoyou.Byfollowingthroughontheirinputand
improvingsafety,youprove quitetangiblythatyoucare about theirwell-being.Workerstypically
respondbyworkingharder,showingmore pride intheirjobsandremainingloyal.
Safety ImprovesQuality:
Time and again,companiesthatputsafety firstturnout higherqualityproducts.Insome cases,
that’sbecause a safe workplace tendstobe a more efficientone,free of debrisandtanglesof cords.

2. In othercases,it’sa matterof focus.By workingina clean,efficientenvironment,workersare able
to reduce distractionsandtrulyfocusonthe qualityof whattheydo.The results?Betterproducts
that create customerloyalty,biggermarginsandincreasedsales.
In these waysandothersworkplace safetyisaboutmuchmore than legislation.It’s aboutcreating
the kindof productive,efficient,happyandinspiringworkplace we all wanttobe part of.It’s about
creatinga highlyprofitablecompany.Andthat’swhyit’simportant.
OSHA identifies a number of factors that create an organization’s safety culture, including:
 Management and employee norms, assumptions and beliefs
 Management and employee attitudes
 Values, myths and stories about the organization and past employees
 Policies and procedures
 Supervisor priorities, responsibilities and accountability
 Production and bottom line pressure vs. quality issues
 Employee training and motivation
 Employee involvement or ‘buy-in’
Establishing policies aimed at reducing accident rates is important, but a strong safety
culture truly emerges when high SafetyDNA is exhibited by individual employees who also
share the organization’s vision for reducing exposure to risk. Safety culture thus serves to
bind employees together and provide cues for appropriate safety behavior in both normal
and hazardous situations. Employee attitudes toward safety are typically directed at four
main categories:
 Hardware: job equipment (e.g., tools, machines), safety hardware and physical
hazards
 Software: rules and procedures, legislation, safety management and policy
 People/liveware: employees at all levels, including workers, supervisors,
management, safety committees, specialists and unions
 Risks: risky behavior and inherent risks in the working environment
Therefore, building a strong safety culture starts with top management, who must first
understand the nature of their employees’ attitudes toward these categories, and then
show employees that safety is a priority and motivate them to share their vision. Assessing
current employees’ SafetyDNA to identify opportunities for improvement, and
distinguishing job candidates with the propensity to exhibit safe behavior via selection
testing, is also critical. Once goals are set forth by senior management a number of factors
will influence the effectiveness of a safety culture program, which include:
 Clearly defining the safety responsibilities of employees at all levels of the
organization
 Selecting and developing individuals across the organization who will be strong
safety leaders

3.  Building trust with employees to align shared safety goals by emphasizing that the
organizational safety program is not just there to protect the company, but also
there to ensure the personal safety of every employee
 Enforcing an accountability systemthat will hold managers responsible to lead
subordinates toward safety goals, as well as incentivize and discipline subordinates
for their safety behaviors as necessary
 Providing multiple paths for employee input and concerns, coupled with developing
a system to track and correct reported hazards in a timely manner
 Ensuring the reporting of near misses and injuries, coupled with developing a system
to investigate incidents in a thoroughly and effectively
Organizations that judiciously implement these strategies will almost certainly experience a
reduction in at-risk behavior and the consequences that follow.