Safety and Productivity: Is it possible?
There are two extremes in industry. At one end, there is nearly 100% unconstrained productivity - the holy grail of maximum profits. On the other end of the spectrum is nearly 100% control of all risk - the holy grail of industrial safety..
Safety and productivity are often seen as working against each other. When “safety first” rules and ideologies prevail, some fear performance will suffer. Conversely, when productivity is valued above all else, employees are often put at undue risk. Production is undoubtedly important, but does it allow enough room for efficient safety standards?
The idealist in me wants to believe we mostly struggle to achieve the optimal balance between strong productivity and maximum control of risk. But the realist in me is beginning to admit something - we are human. Some individuals seem to be able to avoid risk as a part of their nature. However, the vast majority of us actually struggle to achieve the maximum reward for the least effort. We are rewarded, in fact, by spending only the minimum effort necessary to be as safe as we "have to be" to achieve our goals
We have learned this behavior since we were infants. From our very beginnings, we continuously strive to balance between controlling risk (which costs effort, attention, and resources) and gaining maximum rewards. Taking calculated (or sometimes not so calculated) risk are part of our human nature. We understand completely that people can get hit by cars crossing the street- but we still dart across without walking down to the corner crosswalk. Most of us could cite good reasons why drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, or eating too much are bad for us. And yet many of us do it anyway. Why? Because we get more guaranteed pleasure from it than the possible risk of harm.
Companies are really no different. While there are individual companies that may avoid risk as a part of their corporate nature, the marketplace does not tend to reward that trait. Instead, the nature of business is to reward companies that maximize their return on investment and lower the cost of doing business. Who among us would gladly pay 250 extra dollars for a television because the manufacturer invested in high levels of safety controls for their workers?
As Safety leaders and business leaders, we have a strong obligation to do much, much more to describe safety controls as investments instead of costs. We must conduct awareness campaigns, do research, write papers, train leaders, and a thousand other things to drive the conversation forward. But we also have a huge obligation to do so in the context of maximizing productivity to pay for the investment in safety.
There is an obvious relationship between the two, and modern software provides a way to maximize both. In this article we will explore that relationship and outline the ways software enables a combined focus.
It Starts with Operational Risk Management
When executed properly, operational risk management techniques can effectively streamline productivity while keeping safety as a priority. Operational risk management processes have already matured in financial institutions and taken hold in the essential industries. Not only has risk management become a widely accepted corporate function, it’s relied upon at more granular levels of an organization for making management decisions, facilitating departmental workflow and project planning.
What Does Risk Management Do for Safety?
Safe operations are dictated by both industry standards and government regulations. Operational risk management satisfies these important factors. Risk analysis, identification of threats and vulnerabilities, and assessment of security measures all contribute to a comprehensive risk management strategy in order to minimize loss. Effective risk management protects a business not only from financial crisis or process failures but from employee harm and other dangers to the workforce.
What Does Risk Management Do for Productivity?
In many industries, a reduced-risk environment is also a productive environment. Shareholders like to see their company’s productivity increasing as it often directly impacts financial return. In the eye of the public effective risk management procedures increase a company’s goodwill and positive perception, which adds value as well. When productivity increases, technology can then be leveraged to maintain these levels and other resources are freed up to further expand profitability.
Risk Management Software
Risk management professionals often employ software to manage information related to operational risk. Risk management software is a great solution for a company seeking balance between safety and productivity. By documenting and assessing risks then defining controls, risk management software users can effectively focus on the most important risks for proper planning and resource allocation.
Increasingly, companies of all sizes are relying upon operational risk management tools. When valuable data is accumulated and information is distributed, an operational risk management system enables effective decision making across an organization. Balancing safety and productivity is made easier when modern technology has streamlined a variety of processes to help businesses thrive while keeping people safe.
Encouraging safe behavior
It’s one thing to tell people to use safety precautions on the job, but it’s another thing entirely to enforce it. It can be time-consuming and even inconvenient to follow certain procedures for workplace safety, so how do you encourage staff members to pull their weight and comply, even when managers are yelling about getting things done quickly to meet quotas?
Yet, while safety is serious business, Managers can also make it fun.
Workers have led environmental treasure hunts, games of The Not So Newlywed Game, Win Lose or Draw and Ergonomics Over Under and even let associates empty expired fire extinguishers to give them experience.
And employees receive safety diplomas once they earn 200 safety points – points awarded for completing assigned homework, performing safety audits and participating in safety activities, among other activities.
Managers and owners would be wise to balance incentives with expected outcome, which usually entails a boost in productivity yet with a focus on safety. Offering cash rewards, gift cards and employee-of-the-month plaques all work very well to this end. However, on the flip side, sometime these programs have the opposite effect of tempting employees to cover up potential hazards in order to meet those reward requirements and reduce peer pressure to avoid incident reporting, and in some cases, there have been accused instances of “cooking the books,” for fear of not tampering with the current workplace safety and health numbers.
OSHA stresses education as the main message in the promotion of workplace safety programs promoting positive employee behavior without the focus being so much on rewards that encourage injury suppression rates. This education can involve continual training of employees, which is primarily the best course of action to avoid any accident in the workplace.
The frequency of continuing to further educate your employees can be done according to discretion of the employer; however, it is highly recommended that it take place at least once a month. Complacency can often result from a lack of training, aside from the initial phase of safety education and training. Your workplace may see a rise in accidents if your employees aren’t being consistently educated and trained
The connection
The connection between workplace health and safety programs and worker productivity is gaining strength. The benefits can include reduced sick pay and workers’ compensation claims, along with decreased absenteeism and employee turnover. Not only do employees do better on the job when their health is optimum, their motivation is higher as well.
As an overall result of a healthier work environment, businesses will see more productivity and reduced sick pay costs, reduced injury costs as well as less production delays which often translates into more profits for the company. Additionally, in places where work health and safety was treated as a priority, there came about more cooperation between employees and upper management.
Controlling risk in the workplace is possible.
We just have to do a better job of selling it.
