Businesses everywhere understand that their cherished human capital needs to be protected if they’re to find success in the marketplace; after all, if your employees can’t come into work due to poor health, or are endangered when doing their jobs due to a lack of safety guidelines, how can you expect them to adequately perform their duties?
Regardless of how common sense it may seem, an astonishingly large amount of business owners and HR department heads still don’t give health and safety protocols the attention they deserve. So how can your business or department put health and safety at the forefront of its operations, and improve the health, morale, and productivity of everyone in the office?
Building the ideal workspace
Building an office environment where health and safety concerns are paramount won’t happen overnight, and it will require some investments on behalf of your company’s leadership that could eat into your budget. Nonetheless, health and safety standards and programs will inevitably pay for themselves in the future when your employees avoid costly accidents, and will go a long way towards showing your workers how much you value them.
If you’re having trouble motivating your executive leadership to pony up the necessary funds you’ll need to reinvigorate your company’s health and safety protocols, consider showing them the cost of an unsafe workspace. Regularly, Britain’s great companies, from massive corporations to small, family-owned corner shops lose a fortune on health and safety cost and fees that could have been entirely avoided with a little planning. So, what steps should you take as the leader of your HR department to avoid paying these costs yourself?
By having an adequate supply of sick days for your workers, and by offering them special healthcare plans that meet their disparate needs while also taking into consideration the company’s budget, you can ensure your workplace is much healthier than your competitors. While many business leaders enjoy making their workers power through any illnesses they’re suffering from and come into work anyway, the truth of the matter is that asking your employees to do their jobs while sick will actually cost you money, and could jeopardize the health of your other, non-sick employees, too.
Offices are often germ-riddled infection zones if HR departments and company owners don’t take basic sanitary and hygiene protocols into consideration, and your workspace could fast become a deserted and unproductive office that’s missing many of its key players if you don’t allow your employees paid sick time. Healthy employees will be more engaged in their work, and will feel a greater bond to the company that’s clearly demonstrated it has their interest in mind, too, by giving them time off and access to better medical services.
It’s not always obvious
Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to understanding the cost of poor health and safety in your workspace is that things are often more complicated than they first appear to be. Common ailments that might be troubling your workers aren’t easy to spot, and many of your employees may be embarrassed to come forward with specific health concerns if they don’t feel they’re operating in a safe, welcoming environment. That’s why it’s crucial that your HR team works to make all team members included, and takes privacy concerns into consideration when it comes to establishing a system for workers to give the company feedback on health-related matters.
Similarly, your staff should be trained to look for common work-related health issues that often lurk under the surface. Sleep deprivation, for instance, is a massive plague upon workers everywhere, and regularly cost employees their health and mental wellbeing while costing the companies they work for valuable productivity. That’s why it’s best for everyone involved if your HR department is specifically looking for ailments that often fly under the radar, and has frequent workshops to inform your workers on what to do if they’re struggling to meet health or hygiene standards.
Don’t let your company fall behind and force your workers to join the ranks of the untold millions suffering from accidents at work. Companies that learn to put their workers first, investing in the long-term wellbeing of their human capital, are those which are most likely to find success in the marketplace while also boosting workplace morale and establishing a healthy culture.
Put health and safety at the forefront of your company’s concerns, and establish injury-reporting processes that are transparent and blameless, and your workplace will rapidly change when it comes to your employee’s wellbeing. Don’t get caught in the ignorant ruts of the past, where workers were never considered, but rather pledge to be a part of the better future, and take steps now to avoid the cost of poor health and safety at work.
