Managing health and safety at work has its reward. The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
On the other hand, safety is a state of being safe and having freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury, danger, or loss.
Managing Health and Safety helps keep the health and safety of the workers and the company in good shape.
If an organization have a poor health and safety culture, they stand to lose money through fines and accidents.
However, here are the three fundamental reasons for managing health and safety in a company.
READ ALSO:
- A brief explanation of the three ISO management systems every health and safety officer should know.
- Toolbox talk on equipment maintenance.
- Tips on writing a great minute during a safety meeting
Moral reasons.
The point is that society expects every employer to maintain a certain level of health and safety for their workers.
Every employer has to demonstrate the moral reason for managing health and safety through their actions.
Though, Some employers may treat health and safety to be less important than production.
For employers to Sideline Health and safety as less important than other affairs is poor management leadership.
There should be a moral code holding each of us as employers to promote health and safety.
Apart from the responsibility of the employers outlined by the occupational health and safety convention 1981 C155 Article 16, society expects the employer not to place employees in a situation at work where their lives will be at risk.
For me, this is morally right to do so. In addition, many moral obligations have to turn into legal ones.
Legal reasons for managing health and safety risks.
There are so many legal reasons for managing health and safety. And they are;
- For Preventive reasons– No employer will want the enforcement inspectors to visit and issue notices for any safety abuse. Enforcement notices can be for improvement or to prohibit certain aspects of their activity that they are not doing right.
- Punitive reasons. These are fines and charges presented through the court resulting from not managing health and safety properly. Fine for health and safety violations do no one any good. Money is lost. Some of these fines run into hundreds of millions of dollars and can make a company go out of business.
- Compensatory reasons– This comes from where the employees sue the employers. If they win, the court can grant their prayer. The employer will pay out money as compensation to the employee.
READ ALSO:
- 8reasons why accident and incident investigation is Important in the workplace.
- Few tips to keep in mind when conducting a toolbox talk
- 7 Benefits of good housekeeping in the workplace.
Economic reasons for managing health and safety risks.
The cost of an accident is high. These costs can be direct or indirect, insured or uninsured costs.
Maintaining health and safety at work leads to accident and incident reduction. This reason is enough to make the employers maintain a correct attitude to health and safety.
Direct costs are costs associated directly with the accident. The costs include hospital bills, repairing damaged equipment, payment of fines, and payment of legal fees.
Indirect costs are difficult to measure financially. Though significantly, they represent substantially a cost to be noticed, for example, loss of business orders, interruption of business etc. The indirect costs do not involve paying out money.
Insured costs– Involves the insurance payment on accident. They include motor vehicle insurance and employers’ liability insurance.
This insurance will handle some expenses in accident costs, ill-health costs, and damage to vehicles.
Uninsured costs can be from criminal prosecution. Criminal fines can’t be insured because a defendant can’t benefit from committing a crime.
There are some other costs that you can’t calculate financially. You can’t calculate the loss of morale financially.
Loss of Morale can lead to lower productivity and loss of goodwill and public image.
Final thoughts: Three fundamental reasons for managing health and safety risks.
Committing to managing health and safety risks has numerous benefits for employers. Accidents cost money and are preventable.
No employer would be happy paying such an amount of money. Managing health and safety risks well will bring in financial benefits.
Onyeka Emma is a QHSE Professional with more than 10 years of experience in occupational health and safety, which spans many industries such as construction, beverage, oil and gas, etc. He has many health and safety certifications, including NEBOSH IGC, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018 Lead auditor certificate. A member of IOSH, ISPON, and Nigeria Red Cross Society. He is interested in business, entrepreneurship, Speaking, and motivating people to do better for themselves. He enjoys leisure with a good motivational book.
