There are promising signs that manufacturing and logistics companies are finally seeing the writing on the wall when it comes to workplace safety — and hopefully that means relevant safety messaging is written on the walls of their facilities, too. Just consider the following:
Encouraging as these indicators may be, they only tell part of the story. For example, fatal on-the-job falls recently reached their highest level since 1991, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics first started tracking them. Moreover, the recently announced $13 million settlement awarded to a temporary worker at a Tesla factory makes it clear that safety planning in joint-employer environments must take into account all workers, not just FTEs.
Otherwise, you risk catastrophic bottom-line consequences — and you aren’t positioning yourself as an employer of choice. Fortunately, the safety experts at Randstad are here to help you avoid them. In this article, we lay out a five-stage safety maturity and excellence model, as well as seven safety focus areas for improvement. You’ll learn:
Start with these insights and you’ll be on the path to best-in-class safety practices in no time.
Viewed from a high level, nearly every manufacturing and logistics company today can be bucketed into one of the following five stages when it comes to safety maturity.
A low level of ownership, both individually and collectively, characterizes the safety culture at these companies. Improvements are generally unwelcome, and shortcuts, accidents and injuries common.
Reactive companies are backward-looking, only identifying problems after incidents occur and often resorting to punitive measures for improvements going forward.
These companies rely on regulatory requirements to deliver the message of safety's importance. They may have safety-specific roles and designations internally, but generally tie goal setting back to OSHA metrics or costs.
Proactive companies are currently working to integrate safety into their business models. They tend to have some interdependency among stakeholders for safety improvements, with goal setting linked to actions and performance improvements.
Key characteristics of transformative companies include clearly defined safety-management systems, as well as intervention strategies that are integrated into the roles and responsibilities of each function. There's also transparent communication and collaboration around safety at all levels of the organization.
Of course, this is only a high-level overview. For example, you might well decide that your organization doesn't fall cleanly into any one bucket, but rather straddles two (or more) — and that's fine. But since you have a far more granular view of the safety practices at your organization, it shouldn't be hard for you to find the stage that best describes your existing approach.
Finally, if you’re still struggling to diagnose your organization’s current safety maturity, check out the simple safety assessment tool we created to help you out.
Securing organization-wide buy-in and commitment to improving safety practices is a major obstacle for many manufacturing and logistics companies today. Indeed, top-down safety improvements, however well intended, are likely to fall flat if they lack engagement at all levels of the operation.
That's why, as you begin to map out your safety transformation, you should be sure to include the following seven areas in your plans.
By prioritizing these seven focus areas, you'll be able to take a far more proactive approach to workplace safety. And that, in turn, should not only improve operational efficiency but position you as a more desirable employer, too. It’s the kind of improvement that can pay dividends on your bottom line.
Manufacturing and logistics companies appear to be making headway when it comes to workplace safety, yet it's also clear there's still a lot of work to be done. For example, studies show that more serious workplace injuries occur on Mondays than any other day of the week, but with best-in-class safety processes in place, there's no reason that should be the case. Fortunately, by focusing on the seven areas outlined above — and armed with the insights from our maturity model — you should be able to change that at your organization today.
Looking for additional safety tips and insights? Download our comprehensive safety maturity and excellence brochure today.