Why is work safety and health important?

Work safety and health, occupational safety, workplace protection: regardless the term or the definition we use, there is no doubt safety at work has to be primary in almost every job. Employers should always be focused on keeping a working environment healthy and workers have the right (and duty!) to feel totally safe and work comfortably to perform at their best.

However – whether you are a worker or an employer – it’s very easy to underestimate the importance of a 100% safe workplace until something unpleasant happens, which is unfortunately more common than we think. Actually, accidents at work take place continuously.

But why is workplace safety so important?

Safety and health importance for workers

Some of us believe in the principle “accident at work, it does not concern me“.

However, we have to say it clearly – this is not true. An accident at work can happen to anyone, regardless of his point of view and beliefs, and such thinking can only increase the probability of accident occurrence. Underestimation of risks, routine and lack of responsibility are a simple way to tragedy.

Have you ever wondered why you should think about safety at work? What would you say to the person who asks you why it is worth maintaining safety at work?

1. Treatment and consequences

An accident is not only a huge experience for your family. Think about treatment, long stay in the hospital or a few months of rehabilitation. The effects of an accident can be different. From the small losses on health to huge problems that completely change our life and whose consequences will be with us to the end of our life. How will you endure it?

Will you be still the same person? How many things will you miss? What will you handle if you need help with the simplest activities? Who will take over your duties? Victims of work accidents are very stressed, often aggressive and suffer from depression. As a result, they can have problems with different stimulants, especially alcohol and drugs. That can have an affect on the surroundings – your loved ones can also face psychological problems.

The effects of your accident can cause enormous stress among your family members: it’s worth thinking about it.

2. Family reactions

Probably everyone will agree that our family is a good reason: we care about our loved ones and that makes us want to return home safe, without unnecessary risks at work. It applies to all of us.

Just try to imagine the reaction of any of your family members who finds out about your accident: would you take the risk if you knew how your son or daughter will be worried knowing you’re not coming home? Would you, even for a moment, hesitate to wear work clothes, shoes or safety gear to protect your health and life?

They all have the same answer.

3. Treatment and rehabilitation high costs

Direct consequences of the accident are financial burdens related to treatment and rehabilitation as well as due to the inability to perform previous work.

The insurance, it’s true, will cover all or part of the expenses depending on the chosen option. For some time it may also compensate for lower revenues. Expenses and additional financial burdens can be way much higher than expected though and it may turn out that your dears will need to resign or shorten their working hours to provide adequate care for you. That will also have a big impact on the financial situation.

Think about it!

Stop for a moment and think. Don’t be lazy. it’s really worth to apply all the necessary security every time you are at your workplace: it can require minimum effort and it will ensure protection for potential accidents.

Work safely.

Safety and health importance for employers

Ensuring safety and health it’s not simply about making your workers safe.

Protecting employees has many other important direct consequences: it reduces stress, increases productivity and quality of work, diminishes illness days, lowers injury costs. Not to mention it’s obviously simply your duty to properly protect your workers.

So, what are the benefits of protecting your employees?

1. Safe workers means high quality products and services

Creating a healthy and safe workplace is not only about fulfilling your duties. Focusing on realizing a safe space, asking your workers how protected and comfortable they are, generates trust: your employees will see you actually care about their opinion and how important is for you to be sure they feel at ease.

A worker who trusts you and the company and is happy about his or her workplace starts working harder and harder, identifying with the company itself and producing more high quality products and realizing better services.

2. Safe employees leads to more sales

As a direct consequence of the previous point, when an employee works harder and harder and produces better quality products…you simply earn more. Your company becomes more efficient and you are either able to produce more products (or to sell more services) or to improve their quality and ask more for them.

In other words, you can sell more products and services or more expensive ones.

3. A safe workplace reduces costs

A safe workplace generates trust, loyalty and happy workers, we said, but that’s not the only important consequence. If one of your employees gets injured while working it will cost you a lot: think about insurance rates increasing or compensations for the worker, not to mention losing important work hours.

In addition, you shouldn’t underestimate how other employees could react. It’s pretty common to notice lower productivity in the following days as many workers need some time to process what happened, feel protected again and start working at their maximum.

If you mix all these thing together, you can easily notice how expensive can be not to properly protect your workplace.

4. Safety at work also affects your customers

It’s very easy and normal to consider only employees when thinking about health and safety at work. However, you shouldn’t forget the direct impact on your customers: it’s not only about how many products you can sell or how good they are, it’s also about what kind of customer care and prompt efficient service you can give your clients.

If your workers gets injured you could have not enough people to address your customers needs and giving them a bad service. You will lose not only that specific client but, way more important, his or her potential loyalty.