Many business owners consider employee health and safety an unnecessary burden. While it takes lots of time, planning, and paperwork, a workplace health and safety policy is essential to your company’s success. It ensures its continuity, boosts employee performance, and maximizes retention rates.
Here is why you should invest in employee health and safety.
Maintaining the Workplace Performance
Unless it is fully automated and powered by AI robots, your company relies heavily on its employees. It needs people to communicate with customers, think of creative solutions, build things, and manage staff.
Accidents in the workplace often cause loss of productivity, lower employee morale, and harm your sales. People will feel unsafe in the workplace, which may affect their satisfaction and performance.
Moreover, any health and safety problems directly impact workplace productivity. For example, continuous noise exposure and the lack of PPE may prevent employees from hearing important messages. Or, when workers are exposed to hazardous substances, they may develop chronic illnesses that prevent them from performing at their best.
Finally, when a health and safety accident happens, your business operations need to stop. The accident needs to be further investigated, while immediate action has to be taken. If an employee is ill or hurt, you will need to find a replacement for them.
Increasing Employee Retention
You have spent lots of money to find, attract, and train employees. You provide them with regular training and career advancement opportunities. You have poured your heart and soul into creating a team that works in harmony. Most importantly, you are aware that such top-notch team members cannot be replaced overnight.
However, many businesses struggle with a high employee turnover rate. According to statistics, employee turnover can cost your business 1.5-2 times their salary.
One of the major causes of poor employee retention is the lack of health and safety policies. When your employees do not feel safe at work, they will become disengaged and start seeking new professional challenges.
Boosting Employee Satisfaction and Morale
Employee engagement is critical to your company’s success. Research studies show that engaged employees are more present and productive, demonstrating a 17% increase in company profits.
To keep your employees satisfied and engaged, you need to ensure their utmost safety at work. Start by creating a strict health and safety policy for everyone to follow. Provide personal protective equipment, encourage workers to report safety problems, and run regular workplace inspections. Invest in small business health plans that protect your people.
Most importantly, do not neglect the importance of employees’ mental health. Studies show that stress results in a drop of about 5% in employee productivity.
Protecting your Reputation
To gain a competitive advantage in a fierce market, you need to build a recognizable and trustworthy brand. Even the tiniest workplace safety incident may cause irreversible reputational damage. Poor safety standards, employee illnesses, fines, and prosecutions will spread negative word of mouth about your brand.
That may prevent you to attract top employees, as well as discourage potential investors from funding your company’s initiatives. Even customers are now eager to buy from ethical brands that invest in employee health and morale.
Reducing Costs
Investing in employee health and safety saves you lots of money. For starters, it minimizes the abovementioned employee turnover. When you have strict health rules and prevent safety risks, employees will be more satisfied. They will stay with you longer, helping you reduce the cost of recruiting and training new staff members.
Moreover, by reducing workplace accidents, you save thousands on compensation, fines, and increased insurance premiums.
Helping you Gain a Competitive Advantage
To stand out in a hypercompetitive industry, you need to be innovative. Competing on price and product quality is not enough. To be better than your rivals, you need to have straightforward health and safety standards in place.
When bidding for big projects in both private and public sectors, you will need to meet health and safety standards. Such policies are essential to your partners and clients seeking to protect their industry reputation.
Health and Safety in the Workplace are Essential
Investing in employee health and safety benefits your business in multiple ways. For starters, it boosts employee morale and, therefore, increases their performance and retention. Above all, it maximizes your overall business operations, saves you money, and helps you build a spotless industry reputation.
How do you invest in health and safety in the workplace? Please, share your thoughts with us!
Author Bio:
Eve Anderson is a marketing specialist turned blogger. Interested in sports and exciting travel destinations. Love to share content that can inform people.
