Good safety is just great business

By BOB HILL*

Many New Zealand businesses have already realised that health and safety are good business. They know that good health and safety systems are a benefit and not a cost.

Some of these businesses were featured in the Business Herald yesterday. The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) service of the Department of Labour supports all health and safety initiatives by all businesses.

But for some businesses health and safety are simply not on the agenda, and that is unacceptable. Many businesspeople say they would never set out to hurt one of their workers, but that sentiment is meaningless unless it is translated into systematic safety management.

For some companies it takes having a worker killed or seriously injured to make them change their workplaces.

Unfortunately, for a further small percentage, it takes repeated enforcement action or even prosecution for any real changes to be made.

OSH has prosecuted some businesses repeatedly for a multitude of injuries to employees. These range from scalping, amputations, crushing, and in some cases, death.

Health and safety are not just the responsibility of employers, but in most cases they must take a leading role. The Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992) also places a duty on employees.

An important part of the newly amended act is the employee participation provisions that encourage employers and employees to work together to make workplaces safe. Good health and safety are achieved by working together and the amendments to the act seek to achieve this.

In most accidents there is never just one person to blame, and ultimately the cost of accidents falls on us all. The impact is felt not only by business, but by communities, families, workmates and the Government.

International estimates of the costs to GDP of injury and illness at work lie between 3 and 5 per cent*.

OSH looked at the actual cost of workplace death and injury in the Aftermath** research that was conducted along with ACC last year. This showed that the effects of workplace injury and death were far-reaching.

The total documented cost to the 15 workplaces involved in the study was $477,830 plus more than six months of company time. This did not include costs such as lost production, recruitment and the retraining for the 15 employees.

To understand the social and economic consequences requires going beyond statistics and economic costs.

Gaining a human perspective of costs incurred allows us to focus on the terrible harm that occurs to the victim and the heavy weight this places on his or her family.

The Aftermath research cites such an example after a worker was injured: "Mark" was a New Zealand European in his 40s and father of three who fell 5m and suffered multiple fractures when a rotten telegraph pole he was strapped to snapped at the base. His employer noticed a drop in morale and productivity after his injury.

"There was a cost in morale. The party leader [worksite team] lost confidence as part of that crew," Mark's manager is quoted as saying.

"I suppose that was because that was the first serious accident he had been involved with personally and he saw the danger in the type of work they were doing. So there was a drop in morale there, which of course affects productivity."

For employers, the impact goes beyond lost hours and production.

Workplace death and injury are socially unacceptable. A company that does not take care of its employees, which maims and kills them, is unacceptable to all New Zealanders.

Being prosecuted by OSH is only one part of a whole range of costs associated with not making health and safety part of your business. These include the public shame of being a poor employer, and also the weight that comes with knowing your inaction led to the harming of another person.

In commercial terms it shows that you were not treating health and safety as positive business investments.

The challenge is to change the culture in workplaces so that companies that pride themselves on their health and safety record are considered industry champions.

*WHO and ILO. National and International Strategies to Improve the Work Environment and Workers Safety and Health: Report on a WHO Planning Group, Prague, Czech Republic, December 7-9. EUROPE/ADOPT/Hockey RB (2) (A). Unpublished report.

**Department of Labour (NZ) and ACC. Aftermath: The Social and Economic Consequences of Workplace Injury and Illness, Wellington, November 2002. Department of Labour.

* Bob Hill is general manager of OSH.