Do you value efficiency over safety? At least 33% of your workforce thinks so…
The National Safety Council recently completed a study of more than 2,000 laborers across the U.S. and found that more than one-third of workers strongly believe their company is singularly interested in performance caring little about worker safety.
And if you think that number is high, the study revealed perceptions that are more surprising by industry…
- 41% of workers in healthcare reported they were afraid to report genuine safety concerns.
- 61% of folks in fishing, farming, and forestry said that the workers themselves resisted following safety protocols.
But the big numbers come from the construction industry where more than 62% of construction workers said that the companies they worked for had limited safety programs that at best met the minimum legal standards.
And nearly the same number, 60% of construction workers, said that their employers put profits far ahead of safety.
It’s important to remember that worker perceptions about their relationships with employers drive job satisfaction, performance, and employee health.
One study of more than 3,000 employees by the Karolinska Institute demonstrated that stress-producing bosses are bad for the heart and create a rise in heart disease and heart attacks.
And that high-stress, profit at all cost culture? According to studies by the Gallup Organization, it generates disengaged workers that have 60% more errors, 49% more accidents, and 37% higher absenteeism…
The monetary impact? Gallup found an estimated 65% decrease in corporate value over time…
What to do?
Be sure to chat with your insurance team about Risk Mitigation programs that can help you improve safety and reduce your exposure to Workmans’ Comp ratings hikes.
Talk with your team about their genuine perceptions regarding your corporate culture and how workers perceive themselves.
Make a commitment to reducing stress, increasing access to training, and making sure that your environment looks beyond minimum legal requirements.
The result will be an increase in worker productivity and a decrease in absenteeism and workers claims which, in the long run, will help to maximize profit potential and company valuations…
Need further help? Check out the National Safety Council (embed https://www.nsc.org) for great tips on protecting employees…
