Work safety pays satisfactory returns

by Lisa

Having a safe worksite is inthe interests of workers, employers and the wider community. A bad workplace safety record imposes costs , that are borne widely throughout the community

Globally it has been reckoned that the costs of bad safety at work amounts to an estimated 1.25 thousand million US dollars each year. Even more devastating is the 2 million workers who died as a result of work.

For American industry it’s been calculated, for every dollar spent in workplace safety, they get three back - a safety culture pays big dividends.

There’s a method to improving on safety at work; initially it’s to do a survey identifying the hot spots, to remediate those problems and then to train and inform of, the remaining risks . Those behavioral changes need to be talked through in the organization and continually reinforced once safety signs have been installed. By themselves they don’t make a safe work place – they just support all the other actions

With the many types of safety signs for all situations for simplicity they have been organized into groups around their severity . We’ve all seen the Danger signs that denote the most serious risks, then there are Caution signs, followed by the Stop and finally Notice signs that are of informational content.

As our concern is to gain the biggest benefit on safety, we’ll just look at the Danger and Caution hazard signs here.

A caution sign’s function is to inform of conditions not life threatening, but which, could be a risk to human health and/or the environment. Caution safety signs are yellow and black for contrast and improved visibility.

A caution sign’s safety message needs to be delivered with effect so as to reduce injuries at work.

Many work situations demand recognition of the extreme risks to human life and/or the environment; this is noted with a danger sign . Wherever it’s common to use chemicals, electricity and heavy machinery you will see danger signs a plenty.

Knowing the returns on safety investments, safety signs and their content act further to make workplaces safe.