Companies increasingly view the accumulated skills and intellectual capital of their workforce as a major resource and, in many cases, as a competitive advantage. If you ask a group of CEOs what their business's biggest asset is, one of the most common answers you'll hear is "It's our people that make this company a world leader in our field."
To safeguard that leadership position, companies make every effort to ensure their employees are kept satisfied, healthy and safe at work because their ability to succeed in the marketplace is heavily reliant on the continued health and job satisfaction of their workforce.
To keep employees happy and satisfied companies offer competitive wages and benefits. To help keep them healthy, employers offer world-class health insurance and additional paid programs like smoking cessation programs or subsidized gym memberships to help employees maintain a healthy lifestyle. But what role does traditional workplace safety management play in protecting workers from unintentional injury and death, and how is that role changing in the modern world?
Many safety systems aren't particularly efficient at protecting workers. Most corporate safety programs focus exclusively on workplace safety, which means that for the eight hours a day someone is at work they have the benefit of a safety manager, PPE and other safety measures.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of injuries and accidental deaths occur outside the workplace, and a key issue that many employers face today is how to use their current safety management system to protect employees 24/7.
This paper will demonstrate that businesses will increase productivity and reduce costs by including off-the-job safety in their safety program. It will also outline how corporate leaders can take proactive measures to protect their workers at work, at home and on the road.
