Nearly all of the safety professionals in a survey released today said that workers in their organizations had at some point failed to wear the necessary safety equipment while on the job.
To make matters worse, 30 percent of these respondents said this had happened on numerous occasions. Given this, it's not surprising that worker compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE) protocols was cited as the top workplace safety issue by all survey respondents.
Increasingly high noncompliance with PPE protocols is an alarming trend and a serious threat to worker health and safety. Whether this is a result of economic conditions, a flawed approach to safety programs, younger workers who are more inclined to take greater risks, or some other reason, it's essential that workers wear PPE when it is required. PPE protects workers against injury, but it will not work if workers fail to use it properly.
It's no wonder then that three-quarters of the respondents chose workplace accidents and injuries in response to the question: "What is most likely to keep you up at night?" Potential exposure because of noncompliance with PPE protocols was second, at 13 percent, while fear of a global pandemic and its impact on the workforce was a distant third, cited by only 8 percent of respondents.
Safety Pays Off!
Standards set the pace for facility safety, with the tangible payoff coming in the form of reduced medical incident rates, workers compensation costs and other indirect costs resulting from accidents.
Adhering to standards and best practices can also increase worker confidence, something not as easily measured. It allows a company to convey to employees that they care enough about their workforce to maintain a safe work environment, along with providing the tools, training and programs that will help reduce the chances of injury should they enter harms' way. That is a reputation for which any company would pay dearly for.
