Canadian Occupational Safety

September/October 2020

Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.

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40 www.thesafetymag.com/ca S P O N S O R E D S P E C I A L F E A T U R E / W O R K P L A C E S A F E T Y SAFETY FROM THE TOP DOWN A survey of safety decision-makers shows that senior leadership plays a crucial role in organizations with the most developed health and safety practices. One organization's leadership has set the tone for its whole safety culture. and proactive) say that senior leadership is actively involved in health and safety at their organization. In organizations with less well-developed plans, those numbers drop off. Seventy-nine per cent of firms in the managing category see active buy-in from senior leaders, while only 45 per cent of reactive firms see their leadership actively involved in health and safety. In the least well- developed category, start of journey, only 19 per cent of respondents saw that leadership buy-in. As the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent reopening efforts have brought workplace health and safety to the fore, those organizations with senior leadership involvement have been able to move quickly and effectively to ensure operations are ramped up while employee safety is maintained. Without senior leadership buy-in, organizations IN a survey of workplace safety decision-makers taken on behalf of Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS), more than 94 per cent of respondents in organizations with the best safety plans (categorized as leading run the risk of reopening without fully prioritizing safety, opening themselves to greater risks. "If there is a silver lining to be found in this crisis, it is that those who have been invested in health and safety but were facing challenges in creating plans and implementing procedures may now find that they are met with less resistance," says Lynn Brownell, "The survey revealed that nearly all respondents feel that investing in health and safety would bring great returns to their businesses." Lynn Brownell, WSPS president and CEO of WSPS. "The survey revealed that nearly all respondents feel that investing in health and safety would bring great returns to their businesses. Now, it could be argued that there is no business without health and safety." There's a need to bring senior leadership on board because when they are on board, as they are at BGIS, the Lynn Brownell is CEO and President of WSPS SENIOR LEADERSHIP IS ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN HEALTH AND SAFETY AT MORE DEVELOPED ORGANIZATIONS Senior Leadership actively involved in H&S Leadership understands the link between H&S and business performance 94% 96% 95% 96% 79% 88% 45% 61% 57% 64% LEADING PROACTIVE MANAGING REACTIVE START OF JOURNEY

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