Safety First: Safety challenges in 2014

2013. How safe were we? The nightclub fire in Brazil, The Boston Marathon blasts, the factory collapse in Bangladesh, the Spanish train crash; what did all these major devastating occurrences lack? Safety. 

Research by The International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicates that each year one worker across the globe dies every 15 seconds and 337 million workers are injured in workplace accidents. As a result, 4% of world GDP is lost through work related death, injury or sickness. So how safe were we in 2013? Not very safe at all according to the statistics.

Luckily, in Australia we were fortunate enough to avoid any safety breaches last year resulting in a major level of destruction and the rate of workplace injuries is steadily decreasing from year to year.

As it stands, Australia currently ranks seventh in the world for the lowest rate of work related injuries and fatalities, and out of 196 or so countries, this is actually quite impressive.  This leads me on to consider however what safety trends will we see in 2014 and beyond, and what will the major challenges for workplace safety be?

Creating a safety culture
Some would say this is perhaps one of the biggest safety trends of the decade. Building a safety culture continues to bring about a number of challenges for business owners, safety managers and staff alike. Simply getting staff to support the concept, to ensure safety becomes part of everyone’s responsibility and ensuring that management are fully committed to it will continue to be problematic. As Robert Kennedy once said “Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies”.

However, with the economy forecast to grow steadily by 2.9% in 2014, more money will become available for companies to invest in building a safety culture. This will be particularly important for mining whose fatality rate currently lies at 70% higher than the national rate!

“As Robert Kennedy once said “Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies”.”

Safety across borders

With harmonisation continuing to progress at an arguably frustratingly slow pace, managing the safety of workers in all kinds of industries across the country and also internationally as the trend of consolidation remains, will continue to pose a number of challenges and complications for employers and employees. In addition, with more multinational trade taking place than ever before, and differing standards in place, ensuring that safety equipment complies with tough Australian regulation will be a priority.

Technology vs cost vs safety – a three way battle

We all know that the purpose of safety technology predominantly is to improve efficiency, reduce costs and keep people safe. We also all know that there is an abundance of software available on the market to improve safety within the workplace. But can companies firstly afford it and secondly be able to implement and use it effectively? As mentioned before, economic growth in 2014 is forecast but this relatively small increase will most likely not provide enough room for companies to completely overhaul their safety systems, and more likely simply allow for adjustments and streamline what is already in place. The second barrier companies face is being able to use new systems, software and technology effectively. Expect to be asked Why? How? Who? When? from every level.

In order for Australia to move up the world rankings for workplace safety, technology will have a key part to play but companies will need to ensure that an effective strategy is put in place to manage this.

With the drive to continuously improve workplace safety expected to be ever apparent in 2014, I do encourage you to attend one of our long running and well-respected Safety in Action events throughout the year. With our first event of 2014 travelling to Darwin in the Northern Territory in March, our interactive exhibition and seminars covering topics including harmonisation, safety culture and problems faced when implementing safety software, the event provides a platform for all businesses to come together to discuss safety requirements, changes and get updates on the latest legislation in place. Visit www.safetyinaction.net.au for more information.

TONY FRANCIS

Tony Francis is the industrial event Exhibition Director at Informa exhibitions.

He joined the Exhibition Industry in 2004 and has overseen the development of the Safety in Action shows from one show in Melbourne to now run across four states and one territory incorporating Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

Now in his tenth year, He has responsibility to deliver business outcomes for all stakeholders. The passion to make a difference still fires his enthusiasm for Trade Shows -“you can’t shake someone’s hand on the web”.