Workers Want Employers To Prioritize Physical Safety

Recent survey reveals investing in workplace safety technology is critical for employers' ability to recruit, train and retain a workforce.

As emerging technology and consumer demands bring new risks to industries across manufacturing, distribution, and logistics, industrial workers are progressively prioritizing health and safety practices from their employers, according to an inaugural Workplace Safety Report from Ansell and its workplace safety solution, Inteliforz™.

The report is based on a survey of more than 500 workers and decision-makers in the warehousing and manufacturing industries, with a goal to better understand their perception of workplace safety and connected workplace technology as the industrial workplace continues to modernize.

workplace safety technology
(Photo: Adobe Stock by 1st footage)

Employees expect their employer to focus on ensuring the workplace environment is safe, with 94% of respondents sharing that it’s very important that their employer prioritizes physical safety in the workplace, according to the survey. Additionally, 76% said they are more likely to join or stay with an employer who prioritizes their physical safety, and that percentage jumps to 82% among workers who have previously been injured on the job.

The survey, executed by Centiment, also found that workers want improved communication and hazard monitoring in the workplace, with 53% of workers seeing something in the workplace that poses a hazard between one to two times a week, 25% seeing risks between three to five times a week, and 11% seeing risks six or more times. Respondents said their employers could improve workplace safety by quickly responding to safety hazards like damaged equipment or spills (47%); increasing real-time communication with team members about safety hazards (39%); alerting employees where, when, and what PPE to wear (37%); and providing more visibility to how quickly safety issues are resolved (31%).

 

Employers could improve workplace safety by quickly responding to safety hazards like damaged equipment or spills; increasing real-time communication with team members about safety hazards; alerting employees where, when, and what PPE to wear; and providing more visibility to how quickly safety issues are resolved.

 

 

Additional key findings in the report include:

  • 54% of employees with two or more years of experience said their employer could improve how they coach employees on proper form, compared to 43% of workers employed one year or less.
  • Nine out of 10 manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution workers are interested in wearing connected technology that identifies unsafe physical movements and makes customized recommendations to reduce workplace risks
  • Three-quarters of respondents receive less than 30 minutes of safety training per week, and 20% don’t receive weekly training at all.

“As the workplace constantly evolves with new technologies, workers increasingly expect their employer to provide technological advancements when it comes to safety and injury prevention,” said Sean Sweeney, Vice President & General Manager of Ansell Inteliforz™ & Mechanical Safety Solutions. “Based on the survey findings, workers want and need to have a technology-supported safety culture that ensures every employee is fully trained and protected at all times. With current advanced technologies available, like Inteliforz, companies empower their workers to take an active role in their own safety, which decreases response times and helps to reduce injury rates while building trust with their workforce.”

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