Health and safety has undoubtedly become essential for businesses across every industry in recent years. And while strong health and safety measures have brought fantastic improvements to a number of areas, there are some who believe that this emphasis on workplace safety is not a universal positive.
One of the issues raised is productivity. It is commonly believed by some businesses that workplace safety and the strive for productivity are completely separate disciplines, or even that they work in opposition to one another. But the truth is that improving workplace safety is actually a brilliant way to increase the productivity of staff and help the organisation succeed and grow.
Here we take a look at how boosting safety in the workplace can be a huge benefit to productivity.
The right equipment to do the job
It should first be noted that having the right equipment to carry out your work effectively is a big boost for health and safety, and for productivity. In any business, the correct working equipment plays a huge role in relevant health and safety, so it is important that employers should ensure that they have all of the correct equipment available.
The advantage here is that with this equipment staff will be able to work more productively and efficiently.
Confidence through security
It makes logical sense that if members of staff feel that they are safer and more secure, they will have more confidence in their ability to do their job. Productivity can be seriously affected if employees don’t feel safe in what they are doing; not only from the perspective that time will be spent discussing safety issues with managers but also simply through not trusting that they are safe to work.
When staff feel confident that they are working in a safe environment, their minds are free to focus on what they are good at; their job. It is a great idea to discuss issues with members of the team to establish any outstanding problems that are causing concern.
A better employer-employee relationship
When staff feel that their employer has done everything they can to ensure their safety in the workplace, they can feel much more positive about the company and the management team. Ultimately, this can lead to a much stronger employer-employee relationship which is another important way to boost productivity.
Interestingly, a company that has an excellent record of health and safety can actually attract a higher level of staff. This is an additional boost to the productivity of your team, as employing better qualified and high performing staff members can be a huge benefit.
More comfortable working environment
One of the most important aspects of a productive working environment is ensuring that workers feel comfortable at all times. A good example of this is the issue of employees and staff being the wrong temperature. Being too hot or too cold can have a huge negative impact on productivity; there is a drop in productivity of up to 4% when a workplace reaches over 27 degrees.
This is why so many organisations are choosing to invest in HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system design. According to HVAC specialists BSE 3D, “an incorrectly designed or specified system can be ineffective and expensive, costing significantly more money to run while failing to properly control the air within the building”.
Save time and resources
This is definitely a case of putting in the time and resources now in order to reduce your spending and boost your productivity in the long run. Yes, getting health and safety right can mean investing now in resources, but having them in place puts you in a far better position in the event of a larger problem further down the line.
This applies to time as well. This can save a significant amount of time by being already prepared.
Final thoughts
Workplace safety and productivity go hand-in-hand – strengthening your safety measures and having the right equipment helps you to embolden your team and allow them to feel confident, as well as attracting high-quality members of staff through your reputation as an employer that cares about its employees. There is no reason to assume that stricter safety requirements will reduce productivity.
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