Workplace Safety: Why it Can Impact Your Recruitment and Employee Retention

28 Jun Workplace Safety: Why it Can Impact Your Recruitment and Employee Retention

No one wants to be injured at work and everyone knows things happen — no one and nothing is perfect. But if worker injuries are a common occurrence within your establishment, it can hurt not just your employees, but your worker retention rates and your ability to find new qualified candidates when it comes time to hire. 

Here’s why worker safety needs to be a top priority — not just in word, but in deed: 

Few safety incidents means more productivity.

Workers who aren’t injured on the job are able to come to work. It’s pretty straightforward. This also means less stress and demand on the workers who would otherwise be asked to fill in the gaps for someone out on disability or with an injury. 

More attention spent on the task at hand.

If workers are safe, and know all safety standards are being met, they can pay attention to their jobs with a greater focus. Not having to worry about stray wires, or unannounced slick floors, or broken chairs or other office equipment, allows them to come in, do their work, and go home.If they need to second-guess everything, that distracts from the ability to work confidently. 

Better safety training makes everyone responsible and aware of risks.

Workers might grumble and groan if they have to sit through OSHA training every so often. But it’s also a constant reminder that there are safety requirements that need to be met. It can also shine light on some conditions that workers might have questions about but were afraid to speak up and get fixed. Leveling the playing field by pointing out, on a routine basis, what safety protocols are for your company can help all workers buy-in, without fear of causing them any undue attention or aggravation. 

Safer workers are happier workers.

If you ever bought a used car from a seller and it turned out to be a lemon, you probably told all your friends about it. If your workers are getting injured on the job, and they know it happens to themselves or their coworkers on a regular basis, you can bet they’re telling their friends about it. If word gets out that your workplace is not safe, that people are getting injured and management isn’t taking any serious action to fix the problems, it will damage your reputation, making it harder to entice qualified candidates to join your team. No one wants to work for an employer who appears to not care about their well-being. 

Take a moment to think about the past six months of injuries to occur on the job. If it’s more than one or two, you potentially have a problem on your hands. Schedule some safety training for the whole team and take serious steps to improve any problems, large or small, that are brought to your attention. A safe team is a happy and productive team. 

If you’re looking to expand your team, or to hire a safety expert to bring your company up to standards, give LeadingEdge Personnel a call. We can help you find qualified, skilled candidates that meet your team’s needs. Contact LeadingEdge today and let’s get to work (safely)!