Safety is the foundation of any strong organization and, of course, any successful safety initiative will advance a company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance.
Still, safety rarely receives the recognition it deserves because, when safety strategies are working well, they blend in seamlessly and become part of the company’s very DNA. When safety protocols aren’t working out as well, safety procedures are put under the microscope. But at that point it’s too late.
Without question, workplace-related incidents can affect assets and productivity, but most importantly they can affect people. The International Labour Organization estimates that 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million work-related incidents occur around the globe annually, and 2.3 million people die from these incidents.
We must and can do better.
For decades companies relied on lagging indicators to evaluate what could be learned from incidents and near-misses after they occurred, but you can never prevent an incident that has already taken place. Data, software and expertise can bring companies unprecedented predictive and prescriptive insights into what’s working and what’s not working to help organizations make better business decisions for the organization and the people who work for the company.
We believe a safer, more sustainable and productive world is within reach, but it will take more companies going beyond compliance and moving toward performance.
Sphera’s new Safety report—which is the evolution of the previous Process Safety and Operational Risk Management report to also include Health and Safety respondents—found that 75% of organizations incorporate safety into their corporate culture, but only 40% said they have a well-defined roadmap to improve performance. And few respondents (27%) said safety is linked to business performance at their companies. Not surprisingly, most respondents said they are collecting safety data, but they are not using it to help manage risk.
We invite you to download the report for more insights into the progress companies have made in tackling safety initiatives and the hurdles they still must overcome.
2021 Safety Report
Download the new Sphera Safety Report.