Benefits of Strategic Safety Measures

Strategically planning and effectively implementing safety measures can greatly improve worker performance and influence the development of safety culture within an organization.  By identifying the relevant safety needs of an organization and through risk assessment prioritization, appropriate control methods (strategic safety measures) are established to eliminate or reduce the likelihood of injuries and illnesses by:  focusing on preventing serious injuries and fatalities; impacting an organization’s safety culture; predicting future safety performance; and providing solutions for reducing injuries.  Effective strategic safety measures are developed by customizing controls relevant for specific sites in order to minimize injuries and reduce exposures.  Strategic measures are an indication of success as opposed to failure (i.e. reduction of injuries and incident rates related to the measure). By regularly providing employees with feedback on safety measures, means for effective communication between the employer and the employee takes place.  Safety measures are effective through the consistent implementation and execution over time and periodic evaluation of those measures in order to find ways to modify and improve them as needed.  By illuminating an organization’s safety expectations, in which management can clearly communicate its expectations that employees can strive to accomplish (e.g., zero injuries on a jobsite).  Increasing safety awareness should occur before injuries take place since serious injuries are an undesirable way for employees to become more aware of safety. The benefits of strategic safety measures that are carefully developed, thoughtfully selected, and meticulously implemented have the potential to seriously impact safety performance and lead to long-term safety culture development within an organization.