What is World Day for Safety?
World Day for Safety and Health at Work is recognised annually on April 28th across the world. Today is a day that helps foster the idea of creating safer workplaces by working to prevent injuries and illnesses on a global scale.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO):
- 340 million work-related accidents occur every year.
- 2.3 million people have been affected by an accident or illness due to work annually, and over 6,000 people die per day.
In high-risk industries like construction and forestry, it is important for employers to do everything to protect people on-site.
At Alcumus, health and safety are of the highest priority. Our mission is to protect employees by helping organisations meet their safety, sustainability, and supply chain goals with our suite of digital solutions.
"Alcumus values creating safer, more sustainable workplaces that help bring home workers safely every day. This is our commitment to our customers globally. Our teams are dedicated to helping customers find a successful path to their ultimate goal. Whether it's preventing incidents, reducing risk, eliminating paper, creating a strong safety culture - or all the above - we are there every step of the way. We stand by our commitment, 365 days a year, and are thrilled to be partnered with customers who believe the same."
- Tyler Davey, Chief Executive Officer, Alcumus North America
3 Things You Can Do to Build a Safer Workplace
We want to help you prevent workplace injuries and illnesses to help keep your people safe. With over 40 years’ experience providing technology-led risk management solutions to organisations around the world, here’s three things we recommend:
1. Strengthen Your Safety Culture
Having a strong safety culture in place can help create a more proactive approach to safety, helping to prevent more incidents and injuries before they occur. Health and safety is everyone’s responsibility, from boardroom executives to front-line workers, so it’s critical everyone understands the valuable part they play in creating a safe work environment.
An important element needed to build a strong safety culture is senior leadership and commitment. When senior leaders are fully invested in health and safety, employees and front-line workers will be more inclined to participate in safety activities and behaviours where a positive and inclusive environment is fostered. When employees know their feedback is valued and are not afraid to speak up, positive change can occur. Equipping them with the right training and the right tools can also help to increase engagement with your safety program to strengthen your safety culture.
“Making sure all employees are kept safe and healthy at work, is a vital responsibility that all employers hold. Creating a strong culture around safety is paramount, ensuring that people not only think about their own safety, but that of their co-workers and the public around them. Combining a strong culture with the data-driven insights that only a digital solution can provide, will ensure that your people and business are in the best position possible to leave work the way they came in.”
- Mike Harris, Head of Customer Success, Alcumus
2. Consider All 3 Pillars of Safety
When we talk about safety, it’s important to realise it encompasses various elements. To truly build a safer, healthier, and stronger workplace you must look at these three pillars: health and safety, supply chain management, and sustainability.
Health and safety refers to practices, policies, and processes put in place to help mitigate risks related to the health and safety of workers. This should also include chemical management to protect workers and the environment from the harmful impacts of hazardous substance exposure.
Supply chain management refers to managing not only in-house workers but third-party contractors as well. It’s important to have a system in place to help ensure contractors are up to company and industry standards to help mitigate risks on-site. Sustainability refers to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices which can help build a more resilient and ethical business.
“Sustainability isn’t a buzzword, it’s crucial to an organisation’s purpose and strategy to grow brand equity and trust. Heightened stakeholder expectations and growing public scrutiny mean that businesses need to prove they’re managing their operations without compromising on safety, sustainability, or ethics. It’s a journey, not a destination and everything is a learning process where there will always be room for improvement to shape better futures. Sustainability is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must.”
-David Picton, SVP of Sustainability, Alcumus.
3. Implement a Digital Solution
Lastly, another way to help create safer work environments is by implementing digital, mobile-first solutions. Technology can truly help to simply and maintain safety across your organization to mitigate risks faster and prevent incidents and injuries before they occur.
With all elements of your safety program digitized and centralized in one platform, you can easily identify gaps and spot deficiencies. Such transparency and visibility can allow employers to prioritize areas of concern to work to mitigate risks on-site. This can also help to streamline communication and break down silos, as all information is easily accessible on one platform to gain a more comprehensive view of safety performance at your organization.
Having a robust data and analytics tool to capture real-time insights, can also help employers easily spots trends and patterns. With a data-driven approach, the necessary corrective actions can be put in place quickly and efficiently to prevent incidents and injuries from occurring on-site.
How Alcumus Can Help
Alcumus is a leading provider of technology-led risk management solutions providing clients with expertise and support to help identify and mitigate risks, navigate compliance, and keep people safe. It supports clients with a wide range of risk management services, including products across Supply Chain Management, EHS and ESG Software, and Asset Inspection Systems.
Talk to us today
Curious to learn how the Alcumus suite of solutions can help you create a safer and more sustainable workplace? Speak to one of our Alcumus representatives today!
