In this webinar, now available to watch on-demand, Director, Occupational Health and Safety at Citrix Ltd., Dawn Hemmings, and CEO at Evotix, Matthew Elson, share their thoughts on the use of the phrase “safety is our #1 priority”, highlighting why an alternative approach could work better in engaging employees.
How often do you hear business talk about safety being their #1 priority? Do you believe this? Evotix doesn’t! It believes that the statement is a cliché – of course it sounds right: what is not to like about prioritising safety? But, in reality, business is about serving a purpose, creating value, “being in business”! The #1 priority is not safety but safe operations.
Occupational safety in numbers:
- 380,000 deaths per year occur from occupational accidents
- 3 million deaths occur from occupational diseases
- 6 million people live with physical ill health
- 5 million people live with poor mental health
What are the fundamentals of good occupational management?
- Efficiency
- Consistency
- Reliability
How can you change the mindset of directors not interested in health & safety?
Dawn comments that, in some cases, health and safety professionals will only refer to legislation. She argues that this approach does not work in convincing directors that health and safety is important.
She says: “You need to get them to understand why you’re doing it and what’s in it for them. The person who will likely go to prison if a company is fined will be the director, our job is to help businesses understand the consequences of not following legislation.”
How is safety a key part of your operations?
The panellists agreed that safety needs to be integrated into every part of a business. The responsibility should not simply fall on one department – health and safety practices should be embedded in everything you do.
Do you think the increased focus on mental health has changed the landscape when it comes to focusing on health and safety? Has that changed since the start of the pandemic?
As a result of the pandemic, the number of people suffering with poor mental health has increased.
Matthew shares his take on mental health in relation to workplaces: “I believe mental health should be positioned as a safety issue; how can you be sure any mental health struggles your colleagues are facing isn’t posing a risk to safety at work? Mental health is just as important as physical health and can equally affect the safety of operations.”
The professionals argue that, though health and safety is in the job title, people often forget about ‘health’. Dawn believes businesses need to make sure mental health forms part of its health and safety strategy, providing tools and resources for people so they know where to go if they’re struggling.
“Safety is our number one priority”
Both panellists agreed that businesses need to move away from viewing health and safety as a burden, arguing that a better statement than “safety is our number one priority” would be “safe operations are our number one priority”.
Dawn says: “I never say safety is our number one priority, because generally, it isn’t. If a company is saying safety is a priority, that’s purely because management are saying it, not because it’s true.
“I always say, safety is a value – leaving individuals responsible for their own actions. A worker should be saying – I’m going to put my gloves on because I want to protect my hands or I’m going to put my ear defenders on because I don’t want to lose my hearing – it puts the ownness back on the individual to value themselves and look after themselves.”
When someone has an accident at work it doesn’t just happen to them, it happens to their colleagues, their family, their friends, and people need to take ownership of it.
Want to find out more from our experts on the dangers of promoting safety as a number one priority? Watch the rest of the webinar, and others in the series, on-demand by filling out the form opposite…
When you attend this on-demand webinar you will:
- Gain an insight into the fundamentals of good operational management
- Explore how safety can be a key part of your operations ecosystem
- Learn how employee engagement drives quality and consistency
- Discover how doing safety enhances the overall business and delivers profit
