5 Benefits of Conducting a Workplace Safety Risk Assessment
Without a doubt, the wellbeing of your employees should always be your top priority. This is not a statement that is in any way debatable. Nothing else is more important than their health and safety – not productivity, profit, or stakeholder influence even comes close. Without your employees, none of these things would matter anyway. This is why it is so important to regularly perform a thorough risk assessment in order to ensure that your employees are working in a safe environment and that you know what to do if something were to go wrong.
The truth is that a safety assessment of your work environment holds many additional benefits. When identifying these benefits, you come to realise that a safety assessment should not be approached as merely an inconvenient project, but rather an investment in your organisation. Some of the most significant benefits include:
Increased productivity – If your team follows safe operating procedures and the environment is adequate, the result is increased productivity. A safety risk assessment allows you to identify hazards and identify who is at risk within your work environment. This, in turn, allows you to define clear processes for everyone to follow, eliminate potential harm, and experience less downtime due to accidents, clean-ups, or breakdowns.
Lower insurance premiums – The fewer risks your work environment poses, the better the chances are of your organisation securing reduced insurance costs. This can be achieved by eliminating hazards and creating clear procedures to minimise damage in case of an accident. An annual safety risk assessment by a recognised service provider will, in most cases, be required by an insurance provider to secure preferential rates.
Reduced employee absenteeism – The fewer risks your team faces while in the workplace or performing their tasks, the fewer accidents there will be. If defined action plans exist for various risk scenarios, then these situations will have less of an impact on employees and their safety will be enhanced. These factors combined will lead to fewer employees requiring sick leave due to injuries or illness.
Improved staff retention and employee morale – The safer a work environment is, the less stressful it is. On top of that, risks, hazards and other features that can lead to shutdowns or spoiled results can cause a lot of frustration. A safe and controlled environment can eliminate this frustration to create a more enjoyable work experience. This improves employee morale and minimises resignations.
Lower staff-turnover costs – The costs associated with staff turnover can be astronomical. These include the recruiting process, disruptions in productivity, training employees, and the loss associated with the time it takes a new member to achieve peak productivity. A better work environment, as explained in the previous point, also leads to a lower staff-turnover rate, and thus cost to the organisation.
It is advised that a workplace safety risk assessment is conducted every year to ensure optimal efficacy. For more information, these assessments and to request a quote, contact IOH Solutions.