The Importance of Safety Culture

The ILO (International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency) estimates that 2.3 million women and men around the world succumb to work-related accidents or diseases every year, which is the equivalent of over 6000 deaths every single day. Worldwide, there are around 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses annually.
(Source: World Statistic (ilo.org))

A considerable amount of research has been conducted into the reasons why accidents happen. One insight is that unsafe behaviour is one of the biggest causes. Examples include taking shortcuts, being overconfident, ignoring procedures, distractions, an untidy workplace, failure to plan, and more. All of these can lead to an accident or an incident.

This is why the development of an excellent safety culture for businesses is essential. The cost of poor safety culture doesn’t just harm a business, its employees, and the environment around it, it affects the entire business process and promotes an inability to change.

And a true safety culture doesn’t just mean managing and mitigating hazards and behaviour, it should ensure that the methods used to enable it to happen leave the workforce feeling positive about themselves and empowered to confidently and safely undertake their maintenance tasks.

For this to happen, successfully, day in and day out, the message must be greater than simply a poster on a wall. The safety culture must be fully embedded within the business, allowing it to become a fundamental way of working. This can only be achieved with a clear purpose and message, with supporting tools, and actions being enthusiastically driven from the top through committed and effective leadership.

Digital systems are the easiest way to help companies achieve their safety goals and embed a true safety culture. Yokogawa’s Digital Control of Work Solution provides a Fresh Intuitive Gateway to a Safer Workforce Culture by placing Proven Intelligent Safety at the Forefront of Digital Control of Work in High Hazard industries for 30 Years.

Yokogawa’s Digital Control of Work Solution is not an electronic version of your paper-based systems but focuses more on Risk Assessment and Knowledge Mapping, providing a Configurable and Highly Scalable solution with the same single system whatever the size of facility or business. The result being a much safer, simpler system.

As a company, Yokogawa RAP prides itself on its safety knowledge, product quality and customer service and support. Operating on a continuous improvement philosophy ensuring the company is at the leading edge of control of work software, keeping people safe worldwide, every day.

We are part of Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a leading provider of Industrial Automation and Test and Measurement solutions having a global workforce of over 17,000 employees and 128 subsidiaries and affiliates operating in 60 countries.

Author: Emma Bundy

Experienced Marketing Professional with a history spanning 30 years in the software, services, and manufacturing industries. Proficient in Marketing Management, Project Management, Product Marketing, and Market Research.

For over 14 years, I have dedicated my expertise to the Digital Control of Work sector, promoting the adoption of best practice safety and smarter, safer working environments for workforces and contractors worldwide through Yokogawa RAP's intelligent and innovative software solutions.