Business Values Productivity over Safety

A new survey has found an alarming number of Australian businesses value productivity over safety in the workplace. The survey into business attitudes to safety was released at the Safety in Action Conference this month. It was conducted by the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) in conjunction with the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA).

The survey found that 50% of OHS Personnel said efforts to minimise OHS risks within their organisations are compromised by concerns that they will have a negative impact on productivity. It said that almost a quarter (23%) of senior managers who participated in the survey echoed these concerns about OHS and reduced productivity.

According to the survey less than half of CEOs and Board members (49%) and senior managers (44%) said they ‘strongly agreed’ that ‘there is OHS leadership within my organisation’. And a similar number do not believe their organisation has a ‘well entrenched OHS culture’.

This represents a worrying gap between the views of top level management and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Personnel. Just 44% of OHS personnel said there is a ‘very high priority’ placed on health and safety in their organisations compared to 71% of CEOs and Board members and 64% of senior managers.

According to AIM Victoria CEO, Susan Herron, given that OHS personnel are crucial to an organisation’s health and safety performance, this points to leadership and internal communication challenges for many Australian organisations if a high level, consistent response from all management and personnel segments is to be achieved.

The Business of Safety survey provides an insight into how Australian organisations regard workplace health and safety as a driver of organisational performance and employee engagement. It covered a wide range of business sizes and industries, from small businesses to large organisations.
 
Wayne Patterson is on the National Board of Directors of the Australian Institute of Management. He said “While the results were obtained by surveying a largely Victorian database the findings could be applied to business in all states. Business practice does not differ materially between states. If we find in one state there is a gap between what leaders say about the importance of OHS and what their line people tell us happens in reality, then you can bet that is the story everywhere else”.

The report finished by saying effective leadership on workplace health and safety is overdue. If you want to read the full report it can be found at Business of Safety.