Tackling workplace risk to achieve not just adequate but optimal workplace safety is a complicated and ongoing focus for most businesses — and all industries face challenges, some with much higher worker safety risks than others.
Workplace risk management not only has the function of helping maintain employee health and wellbeing, but also preventing productivity deficits due to the lost time injury frequency, and fulfilling legal compliance and due diligence requirements. It's in a business's interests to have effective safety systems in place and that calls for the involvement of key stakeholders, including senior executives, human resources, area managers and, where relevant, manufacturing and production staff.
Suggested framework for workplace safety best practice
Achieving an effective workplace safety culture requires a systematic approach to building an updated safety strategy, then creating channels of communication and establishing effective benchmarks, and finally broadcasting the new standards and mechanisms within the organisation.
Making a start might typically include the following steps:
- revising and reviewing the existing safety management system
- fostering collaboration through a leadership buy-in initiative
- a project management approach to building competency
- building a framework for reporting and addressing risks
- developing warehouse and retail best of breed design and practices
- implementing KPIs and monitoring.
Outsourcing the expertise required to assess workplace risks and propose solutions to address them has the advantage of obtaining professional and objective analysis. This is where the Gallagher Workplace Risk team can help. Our team of experts works with client companies to tailor a bespoke workplace safety program that meshes with the existing structure and facilitates delivery.
Workplace safety gap analysis
The Gallagher team's focus is to provide the tools for enabling the business's managers to implement agreed safety initiatives and the knowledge to understand what needs to be done. Part of their recommendations is to also assign targeted improvement initiatives to individual stakeholders to be responsible for outcomes.
Since workplace accidents often involve areas of risk that have been overlooked, conducting a formal safety and injury safety management gap analysis which aims to identify opportunities for improvement. This provides the foundation for building an effective plan of action incorporating mechanisms for supporting a positive workplace safety culture, including:
- a safety management plan that is effectively implemented and/or monitored
- efficient incident investigations
- systems to support injury management or an early return to work model
- engagement of line managers or staff in observing agreed safety initiatives
- consistency in processes for identifying and managing hazards
- resources or investment towards proactive injury prevention solutions that target the historical risk and claims performance
- risk training and competency assessments
- transparency and/or accountability in paper-based safety management systems
- adequate monitoring of plant and equipment that could potentially cause injury
- whether the executive team is visibly reinforcing safety culture and values.
Formulating an action plan to address systemic workplace safety issues
To address any identified deficiencies the Gallagher team works with the business's management to introduce a number of improvements, such as
- co-design of a safety and injury management strategy incorporating regular reporting and progress meetings
- engaging senior managers involved in the day to day operational safety practices
- developing and implementing early intervention and return to work program
- following on from the above, developing inherent requirement of the job analyses and suitable duties for return to work
- revising hazard identification processes and upskilling managers to report issues proactively
- implementing a digital platform to simplify reporting and improve transparency and access to safety data
- reviewing risk profiles of all work areas and develop a formal inspection process to verify established risk controls
- instigation of regular inspections of plant and equipment safeguards
- providing strategic and technical support to the internal safety team to enable day to day safety matters to be dealt with in a timely way.
Interested in reviewing your organisation's health and safety standards?
The Gallagher approach to risk management and mitigation can enable clients to transform their workplaces quickly and effectively. For many of our clients it's one of the reasons they choose Gallagher.
The over-arching Gallagher Workplace Health & Safety offering encompasses everything from incident management and investigation, safety mentoring and training through to health and wellness programs, hazard and risk profiling or highly configurable online safety management systems.
Find out more about meeting your business's workplace safety needs by talking to one of our workplace safety experts.