Facts

STUDIES

The United States has the dubious distinction of having the highest violent crime rate of any industrialized nation.

It’s not that easy. Employees don’t seem to have caught on to the importance of their attitude keeping them safe at work.

Safety also must be considered a team goal. But with supervisors caught between multiple tasks, employees also must take a proactive role in ensuring not only their safety.

Fostering of safety culture doesn’t happen overnight. This transformation happens slowly so that all employees embrace safety, buy into the process, and accept their new safety responsibilities so they feel like they are making a difference in the company.

Safety coordinators and safety committees can have a profound impact on keeping employee morale high. They can hold regular meetings to discuss safety issues and give employees yet another voice in ensuring safety.

Training also is critical. Employees, especially long-term employees, often become blase about their jobs or think they simply have nothing more to learn.

Statistics

• More than eight out of 10 workers ranked workplace safety first in importance among labor standards, even ahead of family and maternity leave, minimum wage, paid sick days, overtime pay and the right to join a union, according to a new study from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
• An average of 20 workers are murdered each week in the U. S. making homicide the second highest cause of workplace deaths and the leading one for females. 18,000 non-fatal violent crimes such as sexual and other assaults also occur each week while the victim is working, or about a million a year. The figures are probably higher since many are not reported.
• 80 percent of workplace injuries are caused by unsafe acts, while only 20 percent are caused by unsafe conditions.
• A recent national study conducted by Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance (MEM) showed that 64 percent of Americans don’t think a workplace injury will happen to them, and nearly 70 percent say they think about themselves or a loved one getting injured on the job only a few times a year or less.