Stay Curious About Safety Trends

Today’s business leaders face plenty of challenges with the changing world of work, and the incredible speed at which our environments can shift. We learned that – or were reminded of it – during the global pandemic.

Remaining alert to the safety issues your company is confronting today, and might face tomorrow, is critical to controlling risks and building a workforce that can adapt to constant change. In simple terms, it’s a matter of staying curious about the trends in your industry.

The American Society of Safety Professionals recently conducted a corporate listening tour for the third straight year as a way to better understand the safety challenges facing business leaders and their organizations. I interviewed many corporate executives across a range of industries such as manufacturing, construction, energy, logistics and service. We discussed trends impacting safety, the profession, workers and companies.

Businesses continue to struggle with finding and retaining talent. It will remain an issue for the foreseeable future. Constant turnover hinders workplace safety and health by disrupting the continuity of operations and weakening disaster preparedness, among other operational impacts.

This trend also means that many organizations are spending significant time training new workers. In addition, temporary and contract workers can create risk. These recurring workforce disruptions may cause a business to consistently lose traction.

Companies must act progressively and make people and safety a lens for every business decision. Investing in people and ensuring their psychological and physical safety demonstrates to workers that the organization cares about them, increasing their commitment to the company in return. A safe company is a successful company.

We are also learning in more detail that organizational structure and governance truly matters. Decision-making at an organization’s top levels influences the safety of frontline workers and everyone in between. The decision-making process informs resource allocation, defines accountability and drives the overall culture. Because of this reality, it is important to understand the link between governance and workplace safety.

Due to the many influences on business operations in any industry, occupational safety and health continues to be an evolving profession. Understanding business processes and corporate decision-making in fast-paced environments is vital to remaining a valuable resource for top executives. Safety professionals need to combine their technical skills with specific corporate knowledge to effectively translate safety controls across all areas of an organization. And tracking trends will always be an essential component.

Safety professionals should review ASSP’s latest Corporate Listening Tour report , share it with colleagues and consider the featured list of facilitation questions to engage their business leaders in proactive conversations on trends impacting their organization.

Don’t allow our constantly changing world of work to diminish your energy in meeting today’s business and safety challenges. Stay focused, determined and curious.?