Occupational safety has become a number one priority of many succeeding industrial, construction and even service companies, for all the right reasons. From boosting performance to ensuring employee well-being, workplace safety overall reduces employee turnover rate and produces a content workforce. There are a lot of hot topics being discussed in the work safety departments. We have now listed the top 4 for you to get on the safety bandwagon all great employers are jumping on.
1. Mental Health
Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced so many people to work from home there has been an increase in mental health issues. To add to this is the current world situations such as war, recessions, sudden unemployment or the threat of instability in the job market. Due to this, it has never been more important for OHS to focus on bettering work environment conditions to make employees feel safe, understood, feel like their wellbeing is a priority for the business leadership and have access to resources where they can find help or speak up if needed.
2. PPE Upgrades
Personal protective equipment (PPE) has long been a focal point for OHS, and it continues to be this year. What is new is the usage of smart wearables that contain sensors to help monitor the safety and security practises for each individual person working on the ground (e.g. heart rate monitor, blood pressure, blood oxygen and other vitals). Another tool in the PPE toolbox is technology. It includes software to help track operations, safety, health and security in relation to workers and how they perform their job.
3. Workplace Safety and Security (at the office and remote)
The Corona pandemic changed the way we work. It opened professional life to a more hybrid way of working. A lot of people are now not only working from the office but also working remotely at times. This puts companies in a position where there is a need to consider the risks associated with remote work. A suggestion by EHS Today is to make a specific Safety Plan for remote workers to ensure their safety and security while on the job.
4. Creating a positive health and safety culture
One of the biggest topics, if not the biggest, this year is the importance of a positive health and safety culture in every workplace. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Covid pandemic put OHS into a perspective in which it became essential for organisations to have strong preventative and involving safety systems in place. By increasing the social dialogue around health and safety in the workplace, employers can begin to build a more positive culture around OHS. This is shown both by the increase of observations and reports in the area, but also by the overall safer work performance while on the job. Finland's Minister for Social Affairs and Health, Hanna Sarkkinen, made a comment on this by pointing out that our need to prioritise safety and the social dialogue with all stakeholders in a workplace in new and profound ways has never been more important.
Final Thoughts
Since the Covid pandemic there has been a shift in how we prioritise and focus on health and safety in the workplace. In our world today with remote and hybrid work, there is a need to think of OHS as a broader coverage area, which expands outside of the previous regular boarders of an organisation's facilities. To do that the ILO, as well as local governments, have recommended taking up a social dialogue with all involved stakeholders in the workplace, thereby creating a more considerate, preventative and positive safety culture going forward. To do that it is important to look at how safety is currently managed, and look at how it can be optimised going forward to prioritise mental and physical requirements.
There are, of course, many more hot topics being pursued in the world of occupational health and safety in workplaces. However, the topics above are the ones dominating the area this year.
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We are building the world's first operational involvement platform. Our mission is to make the process of finding, sharing, fixing and learning from issues and observations as easy as thinking about them and as rewarding as being remembered for them.
By doing this, we are making work more meaningful for all parties involved.
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