Assembling a health and safety committee can seem like it is one more thing on top of the growing list of items that you need to do in your business. You know you have to do it, but at times you may wonder whether it is really a good use of your time and resources.

But the fact is, if you put a solid effort into building a health and safety committee, there can be some real benefits to your workplace and to your bottom line.

The following are some of the reasons why assembling such a committee is important.

1. Building increased awareness and a culture of safety

We all know that reducing or even eliminating accidents in the workplace is the ultimate goal, but for every workplace accident and injury, there are many more near misses. And for every near miss, there is an even greater occurrence of risky behaviour.

Let’s take one of the most common causes of minor workplace injuries as an example – slips, trips, and falls. An employee may slip on ice in the parking lot and break their wrist. But how many near misses were there before the accident?

When a health and safety committee builds a culture of safety into a workplace, an employee who had a near miss might have reported the hazardous conditions so that the ice could be dealt with.

2. Less workplace accidents

As a result of improved awareness and a culture of safety, the natural result is that there will be less workplace accidents.

On the job injuries harm your company in a number of ways. There is the actual dollar cost of increased insurance premiums, lost productivity as the injured worker must take time off, and possible fines for safety violations.

However, there are other hidden costs as well. There may be low morale and lost productivity among non-injured employees who feel their employer does not care about them. Or you may have trouble attracting and retaining talent if your company gets a reputation for being unsafe. This reputation could even cause customers to go elsewhere.

3. Empowered employees.

When you assemble a strong health and safety committee, it allows your employees to work alongside management to change their workplace for the better. This helps to give employees a sense of ownership and pride over their place of employment. When a health and safety committee asks for input, it can help employees feel more valued.

When employees feel empowered, they tend to be happier at their jobs. As a result, their productivity goes up. This not only helps with the company’s bottom line, but it helps with retention as well. And when your employees are happy at their job, it is easier to attract top quality candidates to come and work for your business.

Contact TeksMed today

While it’s always best to keep working on your culture of safety and avoid workplace accidents altogether, when they do happen, TeksMed can help. If you need assistance with disability claims management, expedited health services or return to work programs, give us a call today.