In Australia, the health and safety of manufacturing workers is a major source of concern, with the combination of work health and safety hazards and the context in which the work is carried out making it the fourth most deadly industry in Australia to work in. The industry also has the second highest serious claim frequency rate, with 5.7 serious claims per million hours worked as of 2019.

While the number of fatalities and serious claims in the manufacturing industry remain comparatively high, there have been substantial improvements over the last 10 years. However Safe Work Australia has been working collaboratively with the industry, unions, relevant organisations and the community to reduce traumatic injury fatalities and injuries within the industry.

Though implementing new safety measures in the workplace is always a good idea, many employers may find it is the attitude and culture around safety that needs to change in order to achieve better OHS outcomes.  A positive safety culture can lower staff turnover, reduce absenteeism, lower training costs, decrease workplace accidents, reduce possible insurance claims, and have a positive effect on a company’s reputation.

Here are some of the ways in which manufacturing employers can begin to improve safety culture and attitudes in their workplaces.

If it can’t be done safely, it shouldn’t be done

Manufacturing can be a high-pressure environment, with tight deadlines and schedules. However, achieving these should not come at the expense of maintaining a safe workplace, something which should be reiterated to employees.

In a study conducted by Work Safe Australia , 44 percent of manufacturing workers did not agree with the statement that they never accept risk taking when the schedule is tight. Further to this, 11 percent break safety rules to complete work on time, and 10 percent reported that they break rules due to management pressure.

These findings suggest that there is a considerable proportion of manufacturing workers who take risks when there are time pressures or pressure from management.

What is significant to note too, is the attitude manufacturing employers have towards risk taking. The study revealed that more manufacturing employers accepted risk taking compared to manufacturing workers, and 11 percent of employers accepted dangerous behaviours as long as there were no accidents and work was completed on time. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know whether a particular instance of risk taking will result in an injury until after the fact.

Though these statistics do not represent the majority of the manufacturing workforce, it is in these small percentages when fatal or serious safety incidents occur. If manufacturing employers wish to mitigate their risk of OHS claims, maintain their organisational reputation and avoid issues relating to workplace manslaughter , they may need to assess their workforce’s attitudes towards risk taking, and communicate the importance of safety above all else.

Take a proactive rather than reactive attitude towards safety

Although incidents in the workplace are often unpredictable, exercising proactive safety protocols not only decreases the probability of an accident occurring in the first place, they also make dealing with an incident much more manageable.

Proactive safety protocols refer to those measures that are taken to mitigate the chance of accidents or injuries before they occur. Conversely, when a safeguard is implemented after an incident occurs, this is known as a reactive approach to safety. Though both forms are important, addressing and  eliminating hazards  before work begins should be a main goal of a company’s safety program.

To implement proactive safety measures, it is important to carefully assess the worksite on a regular basis and communicate with employees to deduce whether there are any areas in which they feel safety could be improved.

Safety is not a once off responsibility. It is an ongoing attitude.

It may be important for manufacturing employers to assess the attitudes towards regular safety precautions, checks and audits being undertaken in the workplace. This does not only include reducing the risk of serious incidents from machinery, but also those that are more difficult to see and occur over time. For example, data from Safe Work reveals that in 2019, the greatest number of serious claims were made from body stressing, at 36 percent. This was followed by falls, trips and slips at 23 percent.

National Manager for Baytech Ed Milne says that safety is something that needs to be a daily attitude within manufacturing workplaces.

“It’s not enough to rest on your laurels and assume everything is being performed safely and correctly”, he says. “Safety processes should be revisited every day, otherwise complacency creeps in, and that’s how people get injured.”

This may involve conducting more regular workplace safety training and education, presenting employees with more opportunities to discuss any safety concerns, or implementing metrics/KPIs that keep your workforce accountable and safety at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

It is not just about physical health

By now it has become clear that mental health is a big OHS issue, with Australian businesses losing $14.81 billion each year to psychological health issues. Manufacturing has one of the highest rates of poor mental health, with one in five manufacturing employees saying they experience issues such as anxiety, depression and low moods due to organisational stressors, including lack of control, high demands and low job security. Furthermore, 8 percent of serious claims is caused by work-related mental health issues.

Within the manufacturing sector, the psychosocial safety of the workforce is now being seen as equally important as the physical safety climate. Indeed, psychologically safe and healthy workplaces are places where employees feel safe from a physical and emotional perspective, and can result in increased levels of sustainable productivity, performance and engagement, and decreased absenteeism and OHS claims.

Reducing psychological health hazards should be approached with the same commitment as mitigating physical risks in the manufacturing setting. To do this, these risks should first be identified and addressed before any growth rewards and productivity incentives can be fully utilised and truly realised.

Employers that want to protect their employees and business from mental health issues should consider adopting a preventative, if not proactive, approach to mental health, and ensure there are the correct systems, policies, procedures and capabilities in place. By proactively investing in the mental health of the workforce, businesses can build resilience capabilities across the organisation, improve retention and increase productivity outcomes.

If you require assistance in ensuring the safety of your workforce, contact Baytech today for initial workplace assessments and expert employee safety inductions and training.