By the
2008 AASCIF Safety & Health Standing Committee
 How
do we encourage all organizational leaders to invest in an Occupational
Health and Safety (OH&S) system? With more operations moving
overseas, organizations are seeking every competitive advantage.
To that end, retention of the workforce is imperative for achieving
organizational success. One means of achieving this is through
the implementation of an effective OH&S system.
There is a challenge in selling the value of an effective OH&S
system. With the ultimate goal of an effective OH&S system
being an injury frequency of zero, it sometimes makes it difficult
the sell the idea. This is typically the result of an unclear understanding
of the costs of workplace injuries and illness. This is not surprising
as safety is largely measured with lagging or trailing indicators.
The WCB of NS attempts to empower employers by providing functional
data and prevention consultants to facilitate management of their
OH&S system.
Organizations also have challenges evaluating their OH&S system.
As a compensation organization, we clearly display the return on
investment for OH&S to our client base. We provide organizations
with data that can be used to both shape the evolution of their
OH&S system, but also ascertain the effectiveness of said system.
We at the WCB of NS made it our responsibility to articulate the
business case for safety to all of our clients. As we have a sound
understanding of true injury costs; it allows us to build a more
complete picture of the cost of conducting business in a risk unconscious
fashion. Leaders in the field of risk management have stated that
the direct to indirect costs of workplace injuries can be a 1 to
5 ratio.
The financial costs of workplace injuries are a compelling argument
for the prevention of workplace injuries. This coupled with the
moral argument for the protection an organization’s human
capital is an argument few leaders can oppose. Therefore, we integrate
financial and people resource information into our employer engagement
process. This process establishes a relationship with large employers
that have potential for significant improvements in the management
of OH&S.
For an effective OH&S system, the commitment must begin at
the top of an organization. Therefore, the working relationships
with our clients are brokered at the CEO level. If safety does
not start at the top, it is destined for failure. Safety must be
the way of doing business, not an add-on to business processes.
During the initial CEO meetings, we provide an unbiased quantification
of the compensation costs associated with their current management
of OH&S. We put the message into terms and figures inherent
to their industry. The reasons for this are two-fold:
1. It puts the message into terms the client is familiar with;
2. It lends credibility to the WCB representative for understanding
the terminology of the industry in question.
Beginning the implementation of an effective OH&S system at
the top of an organization makes sense. Attain the buy-in of individuals
that have the responsibility and authority to makes things happen.
Yet, there is also a concurrent grassroots initiative. We must
engage the front line. This is accomplished through our own OH&S
perception survey and interviews. This achieves two goals:
1. It engages the front line and provides them a voice;
2. Establishes the beginnings of an communication infrastructure
Now both essential participants groups engaged in the process.
This establishes a “top-down” and “bottom-up” communication
channel. Escalating claims costs or mismanagement of an OH&S
system can be a lack of communication between organization levels.
Effective dialogue could also lead to improvements in other areas
of the organization’s performance. By engaging the front
line, it could lead to improvements in employee morale and improved
production. The business case for safety is clear as it leads to
benefits across all facets of an organization.
|
