How Safety Ties to Employee Satisfaction—and the Bottom Line
Keeping your employees safe and healthy also keeps them satisfied and engaged with their jobs, according to Gallup research. Of the 192 organizations studied, those in the top 25 percent for employee engagement had far fewer safety incidents than did the companies in the bottom 25 percent.
Considering workplace injuries and illnesses cost employers $170 billion a year, the safety-engagement correlation has real bottom-line meaning. (And that doesn’t even factor in the $60 billion a year in lost productivity due to occupational injuries.)
Employers that create systems to manage health and safety can cut their injury-related costs by 20-40 percent, which easily can mean the difference between profitability and insolvency. Injuries add to workers’ compensation expenses, and long-term absences mean employers are paying in both time and money to fill job gaps and train substitutes, not to mention the toll on morale exacted when employees see a colleague injured at work.
Healthy and safety programs have been shown to increase productivity and decrease bad product and poor customer service. Here are three ways to make safety a part of your company’s culture:
1. Hire the right people
Conduct thorough background checks and drug screening, compliant with your state’s labor laws. Always check references and ask specifically about an employee’s history with safety incidents.
* Technology such as Paycor’s Applicant Tracking System empowers you to hire more effectively and efficiently.
2. Start early
Training on safety policies and procedures should begin as soon as you hire and onboard a new employee. Do not let an employee begin work without being trained, being tested on that training and signing documentation that indicates he or she knows and understands your guidelines.
* A web-based HR Information System allows for employers to schedule and track training of all kinds.
3. Have an emergency plan
Your employees should know exactly what to do during a fire, natural disaster or other emergency. If you have more than 10 employees, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates that you have written emergency procedures.
* An online resource such as HR Support Center provides sample documents and guidance for creating a variety of organizational policies and procedures. And the HR On Demand Ask a Pro service offers instant access to an HR expert, at a fraction of the cost of consulting with an attorney.
Want to learn more about how to create a safer work environment and improve your employees’ engagement? Reach out to a Paycor representative today.
Sources: Gallup, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Enforcement Data
Buyer's Guide To HCM And Payroll Technology
An HCM platform is the foundation of your business, and choosing the technology is one of the most important decisions you'll make.
Get ExpertiseMore to Discover
HR
Ban the Box: State-by-State
One in Three American Adults Have a Criminal History In the past, having a criminal history prevented some potentially great job candidates from being hired, regardless of how long ago the crime took place, how minor the infraction was, or how good of a fit they might be for the role. When you consider that an estimated 70 million Americans—one in three Americans who are of working age—have some kind of criminal history, it’s not difficult to understand how requiring a squeaky-clean record could become problematic for some jobs. Even People Without Convictions Can Be Discriminated Against Many criminal background checks fail to distinguish between someone being arrested or charged and actually being convicted. Potential employees are...HR
Are Domestic Partner Benefits Mandatory?
A Brief History: Only What You Need to Know The roots of domestic partner benefits stretch way back to 1982, when the City of San Francisco enacted legislation to offer health insurance coverage to the same or opposite sex partners of its unmarried employees. “Domestic partner” soon became the official legal term used by insurers and private and public employers. Also, in 1982, New York City newspaper The Village Voice became the first private employer to offer domestic partner health care benefits. Many other companies and municipalities followed suit. Fast forward to more than 30 years later when, in 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that domestic partner benefits apply to both same-sex and unmarried opposite-sex couples....
Managing Contractor Payroll: What You’ll Need to Know
As a business owner, it’s a given that you’re expected to pay your employees accurately and on time. But something almost as important is making sure you don’t pay your contract or freelance workers the same way you pay employees. Let’s clarify. Independent contractors are not classified as employees by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), so instead of being paid through your payroll system, they’re paid separately as a business expense. When your business requires hiring both employees and independent contractors, it’s important that you understand the distinctions between the two. Why? Three letters: IRS. FLSA – How to Classify Employees and Independent Contractors The IRS looks at the business relationship your company has with a...