Safety managers may need to make the financial case for investment in health and safety measures, here MSA’s Antonio Pereira tells us how.
The priority for all safety managers is the health and wellbeing of their employees but many struggle to get new measures signed off because they lack the requisite buy in from senior management. This article, from MSA Safety’s Antonio Pereira, aims to help plant managers convince the people holding the purse strings to put their money behind safety-related initiatives.
Demonstrate the benefits
It is important to persuade C-Level staff that buying safety products is an investment and not an expense, but doing so can be challenging. You will need to provide figures with ROI considerations around, for example, increased productivity, fewer sick days, enhanced staff satisfaction and more.
Share the mission
Pereira argues that sharing the mission with staff will help lay the groundwork for investment in safe, transformational projects since it will help staff of all levels recognise that safety is important to the organisation. Messages like this help to bring workers and managers together, since they provide a single purpose and a way of demonstrating that management considers all staff valuable. The mission might be shared via an intranet or company meetings and should be simple straightforward and meaningful.
Define the goal
Safety commitments can be as detailed as you want to make them, and it is a good idea to think about specific objectives. The goal should be clear and tangible and more defined than your mission. SMART goals, where a goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound, can be useful and will encourage you to take time to think through what you’re asking for and why.
Offer insight
A big part of creating a business case for change is to catalyse a mindset shift in those that might act as potential barriers to safety transformation. Position your case for success by educating others, giving them information about how what you’re asking for aligns with the mission and the overall organisational objectives.
Invest in future forward solutions
We live in a connected world with the technology to connect workers, worksites, and workflows. Connectivity with an MSA+ subscription enables remote live monitoring, allowing managers to see all active users at any given time, including their live location gas exposures and man down alarms.
Antonio Pereira is with MSA Safety.
