Company Safety Values Should Be More than Just Words

Many companies have written statements of their safety values, beliefs or principles, either as a stand-alone document or as part of their OHS policy. In fact, some OHS laws require employers to have OHS policies that include a statement of their commitment to workplace safety and their OHS principles or aims.

But do such statements really mean anything’ Maybe not.

We recently asked whether your workplace has written safety values, beliefs and/or principles. The results:

  • We have safety values but they’re not used much and have little influence on safety. (45%)
  • We have safety values and they have some influence on safety. (23%)
  • We have safety values and they’re up-to-date, well understood and have an important influence on safety. (19%)
  • No. (13%)

Written safety values can be useful but only if they actually reflect a company’s safety culture and if senior management is committed to those values. For example, when management issues a written statement of its commitment to safety and then slashes the budget for the OHS program, it’s hard to argue with a straight face that health and safety is a company priority.

To help you build solid safety values in your workplace, the OHS Insider can:

  • Tell you about a study that validates the importance of safety culture
  • Explain how your safety culture can impact your fine for an OHS offence
  • Provide a briefing for management on the importance of safety culture.

Plus, Pro Members can watch a recorded webinar on how to build a positive safety culture for FREE.