ARTICLE

An age of risk

17 December 2024

Keeping workers safe in an age of risk is challenging. Ryan Demelo explains how technology and software solutions can help create a culture of safety.

BETWEEN 2022 and 2023, 561,000 workers in Britain sustained an injury at work. Workplace accidents can seem inevitable, yet many happen due to internal failures to understand and foresee hazards. To combat this, companies should build a participatory culture of safety, where every employee is committed to a proactive safety approach. When building this approach, and introducing positive environmental, health, and safety (EHS) habits, the technology and software solutions will be instrumental in overcoming the mix of challenges workers face in an age of risk. 

How can corporations use software to achieve mass cooperation and engage all of their employees, from those in the C-Suite to those on-site?

Health and safety with human-centric design

Technology should be seen as an enabler, something that fits the way frontline workers and supervisors work on a daily basis, and how safety is integrated into their job tasks. Using a human-centric design starts with empathy and employee research to understand work behaviours and inclusive processes to address a diverse workforce.

So, how can corporations ensure they choose and implement the right solutions for each employee? A key point of tension for workers using technology solutions is the user interface (UI), with 94% of user first impressions being UI-related. To bypass any teething problems during integration, business leaders should seek to invest in software that is user friendly, even for those used to traditional processes.

Another key consideration should be how easy these technologies are to use, from setup to the everyday. While software that directly impacts ROI sits well with stakeholders, more emphasis should be placed on whether the tool makes work easier for everyone in the business, while protecting workers and preventing injuries. The right technology can automate everyday tasks, taking the repetitive and menial work out of the hands of employees who can add value elsewhere. Through expanding the use of mobile and emerging technology, such as QR codes, to simplify reporting hazards or safety inspections, voice-enabled chatbots can streamline safety participation. For organisations adopting this approach, AI-powered EHS software is helping them to move from safety data to safety intelligence.

The use of emerging technology should prioritise eliminating barriers to health and safety participation and enhancing risk prevention, guided by human-centric principles.

Using tech to navigate aggravating factors

For an even more focused approach, employers can use technology to adapt risk assessments based on real-time analysis of hazards and control measures to the unique scenarios of workers, above and beyond compliance requirements. There are many elements of work that could make it more dangerous for those undertaking it, from working with heavy machinery to working alone. In fact, according to our Lone Worker Landscape Report 2024, 64% of organisations have experienced a health and safety incident with a lone worker in the past three years. With the number of lone workers on the rise in the UK – anyone WFH can be categorised as such – more needs to be done to ensure that the specific circumstances that lone workers find themselves in are considered in health and safety processes. For companies with lone workers, solutions that include panic alarms and fall detection features can become a life-saving tool, forming an integral part of their tech stack. It is hoped that this proactivity will also be implemented to protect employees from extreme weather. With data from the International Labour Organisation outlining that the EU has experienced a 42% increase in heat-related workplace deaths since 2000, employers need to act to keep their workers safe. Prior to any incidents, business leaders should ensure every worker has done EHS-focused training, increasing their awareness of hazards to look out for and how to respond. Then, when weather conditions pose a risk, those in charge of health and safety on-site should ensure adaptive risk assessments and safety inspections are in place, to be reviewed each day and when a worker enters a new environment. With the right tools, the risks posed by these challenging situations can be reduced significantly.

To reduce risk to workers, business leaders must consider the specific vulnerabilities of the role, location, and activities that they undertake; bank branch workers will face very different hazards and challenges compared to someone on a construction worksite. While this sounds like an overwhelming manual task, it's here that technology plays a role to save time and ensure initial steps are put into place without delay. 

Bridging the communication gap

A recent survey revealed that 20% of frontline workers had been injured due to inadequate processes or communication; figures like this illustrate why executives must consider whether this communication gap extends to their organisation. From there, they can choose the right technology to address the specific omissions in their business.

For example, for those working in the field, keeping up with hazard reporting and risk assessments has traditionally required a trip back to a desk, to fill in paperwork or log findings on a computer. This is time consuming for employees and forces them to choose between abandoning other tasks or leaving risks unreported. On the contrary, the problem is directly solved with a user-friendly mobile app available to all workers. Adoption easily increases the ease of reporting. For example, Menzies Aviation saw a 300% rise in reporting following mobile app adoption, with actual incidents halved following increased hazard reporting and engagement with the EHS tool. Even where signal is lacking, the right app will enable employees to track and report findings with no-signal functionality. This could be the difference between life and death in situations where workers are alone: if a risk turns into an incident, it is critical for those on site to be alerted immediately, able to send help and communicate to other teams. 

Effective communication is proven to boost productivity, as demonstrated in Grammarly’s ‘The State of Business Communication’ report. Of those surveyed, 72% of leaders thought that effective communication directly linked to increased team productivity. This connection is especially relevant in the health and safety arena as tasks like getting crucial safety information to workers and notifying them of corrective actions that should be taken to mitigate a hazard, must be communicated clearly and with immediacy. When it is possible to do so, productivity will increase as workers on the ground feel safe to focus on the job at hand.

With adoption of the right software, implemented to solve key pain points in a user-friendly manner, companies can start on their journey of creating a culture of shared accountability and safety. For their workers, this should be preferred to the traditional ‘tick box’ approach as it provides more detailed and nuanced protection.

Understanding the importance of data 

While software is fundamental to improving employee safety immediately, companies also need to consider the role of data as they form their proactive approach.

Each company's chosen reporting system should allow them to track key metrics, fed into by the software used by workers on a day-to-day basis. As highlighted above, data and open communication around findings are fundamental to keeping employees safe, and feeding behavioural data into systems is a crucial element to ensure accurate tracking, prediction, and prevention. By ensuring there are no silos, and all relevant data is collected on an accessible and user-friendly platform, executives can plan their EHS strategy for the long term. 

But when faced with volumes of data, it can be difficult to unpick meaningful insights. That’s why an easy-to-use platform translates trends, strengths and weaknesses, and business impacts. For example, through identifying that incidents are higher, or safety activity is lower, in certain departments than others, leaders can make a data-driven decision to increase awareness of health and safety practises in those specific areas. Centralising this data makes it easier for improved tracking and reporting to be scaled throughout the business, producing EHS insight from all levels. With data to support them, executives can feel secure in their choice of investments, whether in technology that addresses a specific EHS pain point or training to ensure workers can take all necessary steps to keep themselves safe.

The end goal

Looking ahead, companies should seek to build a culture of safety on a foundation of transparency and communication. 

To reach this outcome, buy-in is necessary from every level, especially from frontline workers. Their enthusiasm to be involved will be dependent on numerous factors; from transparency around processes to technology ease-of-use and access to information. For example, in the quantification and mitigation of risk, leaders should seek to share safety performance with employees and listen to their feedback, adopting solutions that can facilitate this. In addition, through training workers to understand why safety procedures are important, especially for their own safety and health, they will naturally buy into the ideas.

In our latest report on lone workers, we found that 30% believed they were adequately included in risk assessments, compared to 46% of executives. This awareness gap between senior staff and their employees should be addressed through frequent communication around EHS efforts, including highlighting all outstanding risks and outlining next steps for everyone involved.

Next steps 

Bringing people and technology together creates a safer workplace by combining knowledge and experience with innovative tools that enhance awareness, streamline communication, and proactively prevent risks. However, after identifying areas of weakness and being transparent about next steps with their employees, business leaders will feel emboldened to adopt the software necessary to feed into their growing culture of safety. 

Creating a culture of safety is no easy task, and starting can feel overwhelming. As outlined above, there are numerous factors, from open communication to a data-based strategy, that should be considered as they create their nuanced approach. All of these will be strengthened by software adoption, especially when the chosen technology is user friendly, flexible, and data led.

Ryan Demelo is director of product marketing at EcoOnline. For more information, visit www.ecoonline.com

 
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