Like flight turbulence, economic turbulence can be scary and upset even the coolest of cucumbers. In such circumstances, business leaders can feel like they have to make tough financial decisions to stay in the game. All too often, one of the key casualties of cost-cutting is health and safety. When budgets tighten, it's tempting to view your health and safety strategies as expendable, but this short-sighted approach is fraught with risks and potential dire consequences.
So how can you ensure your work environment thrives and safety standards are maintained when resources are squeezed?
It’s no secret that the economy naturally moves through cycles, but this doesn’t mean that your approach to health and safety should. In their inaugural State of a Thriving Nation report, The Business Leaders Health and Safety Forum highlights that while injury rates do rise and fall during economic cycles, it’s more likely that this is related to how companies approach health and safety during the boom and the bust than being inherent and unavoidable to the economic situation.
Economic cycles introduce different risks that need to be dealt with effectively to reduce the surge of occupational injury. During a boom, companies can have an increase in inexperienced workers who need adequate training, while during a bust, layoffs and cost-cutting can intensify work for the remaining staff. If these risks aren’t mitigated accordingly, there can be a rise in workplace injury and harm.