It is impossible to overstate the importance of occupational health and safety. Keeping a safe and healthy workplace is not only a legal requirement, but it’s also your moral obligation as an employer to ensure your employees are not at risk of any work-related illness or injury.

Keep your business safe by making health and safety an integral part of your corporate culture and operations. Creating a solid health and safety culture will have a positive impact on your employees, your bottom line, and your corporate image.

In this post, we’ll explore the significance of workplace health and safety as well as the advantages of adhering to health and safety protocols and best practices.

The Importance of Health and Safety at Work

Ensuring workplace health and safety is essential for businesses, employees, suppliers, customers, and the general public when they’re on company premises. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA), employers have a responsibility to provide a safe working environment. Occupational safety protects human life, especially in high-risk industries such as aviation, chemical, mining, nuclear, and oil, where a single mistake can be devastating or fatal.

Whether you’re a plant manager, a seasoned employee, or an entry-level worker, you need to understand health and safety risks, how to mitigate those risks, and common safety standards and compliance procedures. Following health and safety guidelines can help prevent workplace injuries and improve overall employee comfort and productivity.

Businesses with a poor safety culture have higher turnover, lower retention rates, higher recruitment costs, and lower profitability. Even worse, inadequate health and safety management can lead to illnesses, accidents, injuries — and even death. Ignoring or violating health and safety regulations can lead to prosecution, fines, imprisonment, and business closure.

Benefits of Following Workplace Health and Safety Protocols

Enhancing your organisation’s health and safety culture and performance benefits your business and employees in several ways, including:

1. Protection and Prevention

The primary objective of following health and safety guidelines is to protect companies and their employees against accidents, illnesses, and other forms of harm at work. One of the biggest benefits of adhering to health and safety measures is the prevention of workplace injuries, such as:

• Slips, trips, and falls
• Muscle strains and back pain
• Cuts and lacerations
• Crashes and collisions
• Being hit by falling objects
• Inhaling toxic fumes

Your workplace’s safety protocols can help you identify areas or aspects of your workplace that may need improvement, such as a slippery surface that requires a warning sign or a dark corner that needs more lighting.

While some industries like construction, firefighting, and manufacturing are more high-risk, it’s crucial to implement good safety practices across all fields so that workers do not encounter uncontrolled risks when performing their jobs.

2. Increased Engagement

Encouraging engagement leads to a healthier employee experience, and you can do this by regularly involving your employees in health and safety concerns.

All organisations must train their employees on a range of relevant safety issues and protocols, but companies with high levels of engagement go above and beyond. It is vital to have open, two-way communication about why and how the business handles safety concerns — and giving employees a voice helps them feel involved, valued, and heard. Transparently and proactively addressing potential safety concerns shows employees that their company is doing more than the bare minimum and can inspire a sense of purpose and participation.

You may also foster engagement by providing ongoing professional development opportunities. Employers that invest in training their workforce to perform their jobs safely and confidently will have few accidents and happier employees.

Lastly, employers that provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and other high-quality safety gear demonstrate they are committed to keeping their workers safe, resulting in higher employee morale and engagement.

3. Increased Productivity and Profitability

A safe workplace with minimal to zero job hazards is often more productive and lucrative. Whether you work in an office or an industrial plant, the key to sustaining productivity is to minimise downtime. Businesses that implement minimum safety precautions to speed up production are often unsafe, resulting in accidents, increased downtime, and a negative impact on profitability in the long run.

Reduced downtime and increased productivity will help to increase overall revenues. The lower the injury rate of your company, the higher your profit margin. According to studies, organisations that adopt effective health and safety programs in their workplaces can expect a drop in work-related injuries and illnesses. In contrast, businesses that fail to implement basic safety measures may experience multiple accidents throughout the year, resulting in costly insurance, lost productivity, and possibly legal expenses.

Prepare and Protect Your Employees with Proper Training

Regardless of how big or small the organisation is, employees in all industries encounter workplace hazards that can endanger their health and safety. Because risks exist in all sectors, including office spaces, it is critical for all businesses to provide their employees with regular and updated health and safety training.

At Wise Global Training, we offer online health and safety courses to help you create a safer, more productive work environment. Contact us today to learn more about Occupational Health and Safety programs that fit your business needs.