Having a safety management program is an essential requirement for businesses. It is a regulatory compliance as well as a responsibility for them because the workers’ safety and health is involved.

Therefore, it becomes important to have the right procedures, policies and training programs in place so that the worker safety is not compromised at any cost.

However, there are chances that your safety management program may be flawed despite the best efforts. Proper evaluation of the program is necessary from time to time to identify these flaws and address them at the earliest.

Also, you need to be vigilant about the signs that indicate such flaws so that you can seek an effective resolution. Let us uncover these signs for you.

Unsafe behaviors at the management level

If you notice that the managers and seniors are observing unsafe practices and behavior in the workplace, it should be enough to ring warning bells. This is an indication that the senior-level employees are not involved enough in the program and neither would they be interested in getting the juniors involved. The implementation of workplace practices greatly depends on the behavior of the senior staff and absence of interest at this level means that they will never be put into action effectively.

Poor communication

One of the biggest indications of a weak health and safety management program is lack of good communication within the organization. Employees at various levels of the hierarchy are far from connected, making exchange of information and requirements practically impossible. Even facts as important as those involving occupational hazards and security measures are left unaddressed. This also means that several employees lack awareness and training to deal with such hazards.

Negative employee feedback

If your workforce seems unhappy about the occupational safety policies and measures within your organization, it signifies that the entire system is weak and flawed. You should hold periodic surveys to estimate the employee satisfaction in this regards. Negative feedback will give you explicit indications of a low-performing safety system. On the other hand, high absenteeism and turnover rates are implicit indications of the same.

High incident rates

If you are investing in a proper workplace safety management program, expecting good results will be a natural thing. However, if the incident rates are still high within the organization, something is probably not right. It could be related to the key policies or may be due to lack of workforce training for handling hazards and incidents. High incident rates can be a de-motivating factor and can have a dire impact on the employee productivity as well.

Lack of commitment

If you notice a lack of commitment in terms of time, money or both when it comes to the implementation of safety measures for your business, it is definitely a red flag. Stakeholders may want to reduce the cost of putting these measures in action. Similarly, they may not be willing to incur training expenses or spend man hours on it. Such a situation also points out to the fact that your safety management action plan is not good enough.

If you identify any of these situations in your organization, it is time to appraise the situation and take steps to set things right. Workforce safety is a concern that requires adequate attention because a healthier workforce translates into higher productivity and more profits.

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