Study Shows Worker Safety Dependent on High-Level Decisions

March 22, 2012

Workplace safety is a major problem in the United States. Every year, approximately 6,000 workers are killed, and millions more are injured, in on-the-job accidents.

Safety is everyone's responsibility. Management, however, often tries to place the burden on workers alone. A new study from the University of Georgia shows that this emphasis might be misplaced. It found that high-level decisions about workplace safety and work-life balance can greatly reduce workplace accident rates.

The study examined employees' perceptions of workplace climates across a wide variety of industries and occupations. Its purpose was to uncover trends and factors that were linked to workplace injury rates.

Safety Linked to Employee Support, Work-Life Balance

The researchers surveyed employees on a number of factors including, participation, work-family interference, relationships between management and employees, safety climate, and supervisor support.

They found that employees' perceptions that a company ran smoothly and placed minimal constraints on worker performance could decrease injury rates by as much as 38 percent.

Further, rates of work-related personal injury were down by 32 percent at companies where employees perceived that the organization was focused on worker safety. Researchers found that actual day-to-day practices mattered much more than formalized safety procedures.

Interestingly, the study also found that a company's commitment to work-life balance plays a large role in worker safety. When workers perceive that job duties are interfering with family life -- or vice versa -- the rate of workplace injuries goes up by 37 percent.

According to the study's authors, these trends held true across all industries and occupations.

The study shows just how important organizational attitudes about employee wellness are to workplace safety. It is not enough for employers to simply impose safety rules and establish penalties for their violation. Instead, management needs to take responsibility for promoting a safe, and injury-free, work environment.

Article provided by Arata, Swingle, Sodhi & Van Egmond
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