Today, the world of workplace safety is more connected than ever before. More businesses are using digital tools to monitor employee activity and identify hazards more quickly. As a result, companies are improving their risk management processes while also reducing the cost of compliance in the event of workplace injuries. Reducing risks in the workplace isn’t just about safeguarding employees but also reducing business expenses, such as workers’ compensation insurance premiums, OSHA fines and other costs associated with noncompliance on the job. Put simply, risk reduction strategies benefit the business by planning for the future and allowing operations to run smoother. Implementing improved safety procedures can help your organization control these expenses and protect your employees and external contractors from the dangers they encounter every day. Read on to learn more about how increased connectivity within your business can improve occupational safety in four different ways.
Monitoring Employee/Contractor Activity
One of the main perks of efficient workplace connectivity is the ability to maintain a constant oversight on employee and contractor activities. This ensures that safety managers are able to determine potential risk in order to set out a mitigation plan in advance. It also allows for a continual improvement in compliance as it presents managers with a peak into how safely operations are conducted at their worksite(s). Oftentimes, EHS managers witness a disconnect between the safety practices of their internal employees compared to the external vendors they onboard due to the differences in risk perception and training. This can cause unrest in the workplace and make way for unnecessary risk. A quick and effective way to resolve this challenge is to implement a strategy to monitor practices to pinpoint shortcomings. Having full oversight of company operations makes room for transparent and open communication to take place. This way, safety management teams are able to effectively communicate with external contractors, contractors can communicate with internal employees, and so on. This creates a chain of connectivity in which all parties involved can expect to be on the same page regarding safety practices and are able to reinstate themselves with evolving changes should they fall behind.
Safety Audits and Risk Assessments
As mentioned previously, a vital part of workplace connectivity is ensuring that all levels of an organization are always on the same page. Furthermore, it is important that the progress towards compliance is matched in all business functions. Safety audits and risk assessments are both powerful tools that are used to identify gaps in safety processes and how to produce solutions to them. A routine safety audit can keep a workforce connected by helping an organization comprehend how their safety management systems are serving their employees and contractors and how they can further solidify their strategies. If done right, a safety audit can be an encouraging factor that contributes to a safer and more motivated workforce by removing any barriers to transparency.Risk assessments can then be communicated to the parties involved to ensure an action plan to mitigate hazards, and a collective response to a determined level of risk perception. If all parts of a workforce are aware of the risks present at a job site, then the process of communicating strategies becomes easier and more efficient.
Building Safety Through Digital Tools
It is important that you instil safety as a core value in the workplace. Project management and communication tools can be advantageous in the pursuit of appropriately connecting a workforce to work on building a safer place together. Said digital tools can serve as a daily reminder to always engage in work in a safe manner. Furthermore, digital tools enable individuals on the worksite to self-monitor their practices. Assets such as project management tools provide a seamless approach to planning and monitoring all aspects of a project in an effort to ensure that all relevant details are communicated to everyone involved. Having the right tools on hand minimizes operational delays and disruptions and maximizes connectivity within the workforce. What is arguably even more important is ensuring that the tools an organization implements mitigate any potential inequality in communication. The lack of equal distribution in important communications was highlighted at the beginning of the pandemic as companies had to rethink their existing methods for communication. Industries observed a disconnect between upper management and those on the front line. This meant that pertinent information made its way down the funnel in a slower manner, and the content of what was being communicated became spotty and unreliable. The negative consequences of such a disconnect can manifest in a number of ways such as a lower company morale, inconsistent safety practices, and skewed risk perception levels. With today’s digital-first approach, companies can now leverage their safety management strategies by implementing tools that keep the workforce up-to-date and connected with each other and with upper management teams.
Having to conduct these operations manually and independently may seem like a lot. The truth is that it is. Solidifying safety through the means of increased workforce connectivity takes a lot of administrative hours and attention to detail. Especially in today’s increasingly digital landscape, the traditional forms of communication no longer cut it. Thankfully, implementing the correct contractor management software for your company can streamline this process for you and make contractor management a painless task. After all, the entire purpose of prioritizing workforce connectivity is to ensure the safety and productivity of operations all while protecting the bottom line from hefty expenses caused by noncompliance. Contractor Compliance has helped countless of safety-conscious organizations significantly cut down on costs and admin time all while simultaneously increasing compliance levels. This digital solution helps companies increase workforce connectivity by providing open and transparent communication, real time compliance monitoring, and countless features that automate contractor safety processes. Serving as a single source of truth, Contractor Compliance is the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together. Companies like Genpak and Bonduelle have reported an increase in compliance levels, stronger workplace safety culture, faster and more accurate reporting, and countless other benefits that safety-conscious companies strive to achieve.
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