Creating a safer, smarter future

I’m sure those of you of a certain vintage will remember stories from when you first entered the workforce, of unsafe situations that would be unthinkable now. From smoking inside and liquid lunches to a loose attitude towards reporting and casual approaches to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), much that was once acceptable has, thankfully, gone.

The world has certainly changed. We are all much more safety conscious, whether it’s thinking through the task, what might go wrong and how best to go about it, or donning the right safety equipment and clothing to protect us against risk.?This isn’t just at work, either; I suspect the vast majority of us consistently wear seatbelts and mostly wear cycle helmets.

And yet most people would be surprised at how many incidents still occur in the workplace.

An unacceptable rate of failure

Too often, these tragic moments only permeate the collective consciousness when they make news. But headline incidents remain the tip of the iceberg – the rate of workplace accidents is still too high.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimate that globally there are 360,000 deaths per year due to occupational accidents – and these are not freak occurrences. They’re falls from height, being struck by moving vehicles, being trapped by structures and objects collapsing, coming into contact with moving machinery, even incidents with dangerous animals.

What’s more, the most hazardous industries are also those most likely to use casual and migrant labour on zero-hour contracts. In other words, there is a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged groups in society – people less likely to have the support systems needed to make full recoveries.

That’s before we consider the impact of poor working conditions on long-term physical and mental health.

Linking worker safety to business outputs

At the same time, we have businesses worrying about worker productivity, about output, demanding more from their workforces. We hear huge amounts about how the shortage of workers and the challenge of retention are hindering the recovery of entire industries after the pandemic.

Those same businesses talk about their purpose, beyond creating shareholder value. Their commitment to delivering environmental, social and governance objectives, about reflecting and supporting a wider, more diverse set of stakeholders.

But why would anyone choose to work in those sectors, and for those employers, that do not back promises with actions that demonstrate they believe that every person has a right to work in a safe and fulfilling environment??

Every employer has that moral responsibility. And it makes business sense as well. Accidents disrupt output, reduce productivity, damage morale and reputation and hit the bottom line. Studies have shown that for every dollar saved in direct health care costs employers receive an extra $2.30 in improved performance and productivity.

Digital answers for a digital era

There will be those who argue that supposedly onerous health and safety measures are a burden that hampers business operations and reduces profitability. But those are archaic arguments for an analogue time. The world is going through a transformation the likes of which hasn’t been seen before. Everything is going digital.

Digital transformation is penetrating every aspect of business. When deployed properly, we all know that digital solutions can deliver major efficiencies, improve processes and allow people to work smarter.

It’s no different in environment, health and safety (EHS), but as a function it is often one of the last to be considered for digitisation. It is true that transformation can be daunting. After all, we’re talking about changing not just technology, but also processes and the way people work. ?Done well, each aspect fits together and reinforces the others.?Done badly, and, well, I’m sure we’ve all experienced an interaction with a service that is undoubtedly at the bleeding edge of technology, yet the user experience feels very much like an afterthought.

Delivering operational excellence

While it has its challenges, the transformation of EHS is desperately needed. Businesses are going through digital transformation programmes so they can be more agile and seize opportunities faster. To do that, they need every part of the organisation to be able to operate at the same pace, sharing data in the same way. It’s no good having production, sales, customer service and marketing all fully digital if other functions aren’t, because at some point those still operating in an analogue world are not going to be able to keep up.

As operations become more complex, keeping on top of the health and safety of workers is of paramount importance. Doing this manually is no longer acceptable.?Employees are less likely to fill in paper forms making it harder to learn about performance and improvement opportunities.?Nor are they likely to search filing systems to find relevant instructions, undermining carefully designed safety systems.?Technology has the potential to embed good safety practice “in the flow” of operations, pushing relevant information at the point of need and putting reporting tools in every employee’s hands.?

To do that means deploying the right solutions. Ones that empower safety professionals to make quick, data-driven decisions. This includes recording and investigating incidents, managing follow-up actions, capturing risks and mitigations, tracking training progress and asset inspection, and ensuring that third-party contractors are competent. But also ones that are engaging to frontline workers, providing relevant content, easy to use forms and the feedback and interactivity that encourages collaboration.?

Transforming EHS

Everyone has a right to work in a safe and fulfilling environment. It benefits everyone – from individual workers to their employers, and society as a whole. We should all be doing everything we can to get to that point. There is work to do, but it is achievable. If you’d like to find out how your organisation can transform its EHS function, please do get in touch.