Is Your Company Struggling with Occupational Health & Safety?

More than ever before, companies need to place a heavy emphasis on occupational health and safety management. Not only is the safety of their employees at stake but the financial ramifications of safety lapses can be serious.

Of course, creating a safe work environment is easier said than done. The first key is recognizing when you’re not doing enough so that you can start to make corrections and improvements. That’s why we want to share some of the signs that your workplace safety culture is lacking so that you can start doing more to address occupational health & safety management.

Frequent Accidents or Close Calls

If you’ve had a major accident that caused damage to your workspace or injured employees, it should be clear that you’re not doing enough to address occupational health & safety management. But a high volume of minor accidents or close calls can also be the sign of a systemic safety problem. Think of minor accidents as warning signs that something more serious could happen if you don’t do something to change your approach to safety. Also, close calls and minor incidents can be a good learning experience and point you in the direction of what you need to fix.

Poor Communication

Communication might be the most critical part of occupational health & safety management. It’s vital to set up communication channels so that managers can talk to workers about safety and workers can talk to their managers about safety topics. If there is no engagement between workers on the front lines and the people making decisions about safety protocols, you’re doing something wrong. Proper workplace safety requires constant communication, so if safety talk is limited inside the company, something is wrong.

Compliance Problems

Needless to say, if you’re having trouble with OSHA, safety isn’t being taken seriously enough. But problems likely go deeper than that if you’re not meeting regulatory standards. Is there a system in place to track changing regulations? Is there a way to double-check that you’re complying with all OSHA standards? If the answer to these types of questions is no, it’s a safe bet that your safety culture isn’t strong enough and that occupational safety is being mismanaged.

High Absenteeism

A high rate of absenteeism among your workers is a good indicator that occupational health & safety management is lacking at your company. If there are a lot of workers calling in sick, it’s probably not a coincidence. It’s possible that they’re getting sick at work or feel tired and overworked and need to take a day off every now and then. Either way, there are safety issues that you’re missing or ignoring. The cost of workers calling in sick can be higher than you think, so high absenteeism is bad for business. However, it’s a problem that can be addressed by improving your approach to workplace safety. 

Lack of Innovation 

Occupational health & safety management requires constant adjusting. Companies should always be looking for new ideas and exploring new ways to improve safety. If you’re stuck in your old habits and using phrases like “Well, we’ve always done it this way,” that’s a bad sign. You can never get too stuck in your ways when it comes to workplace safety. The things that were good enough years ago may not be enough anymore. If you don’t have staff members who are looking for new innovations for company safety, you’re not doing enough.

Find the Right Safety System

If you need to change your approach to occupational health & safety management, the first step is to invest in safety monitoring software. Our software offers a comprehensive system for monitoring and maintaining workplace safety. It’s the best way to start turning around the safety culture at your company.

If you’re ready to take the plunge and take safety more seriously, let’s have a conversation about everything that our software can do for you.