The best software for quality and risk management.A safe working environment is important for everyone, but unsafe work situations unfortunately occur on a regular basis. It is therefore important to know how to reduce safety risks as much as possible. Is safe working practicable? That is the one-million-dollar question. We would like to give you the answer to this important question.
Working safely means working in a working environment that minimises the risk of incidents. To achieve this, legislation has been drafted. These laws are aimed at preventing unsafe situations as well as taking measures when these situations are unavoidable. In the Netherlands, this legislation is determined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, but as an organisation, you are responsible for complying with these laws and guidelines.
Compared to the previous year, the number of victims of industrial accidents in 2022 increased from 1,937 to 2,357. This is an increase of 22%. Most incidents occur in water companies and waste management, according to the Work Accidents Monitor 2022-2023. Since the end of the corona period, the number of serious accidents at work is therefore on the rise again. This makes safe working more important than ever to collectively reduce the number of casualties.
In 2022, 2,418 investigations were launched, which is 19% more than the years 2021 and 2020. Among these investigations, a number of things stood out.
Inspectorate SZW’s 2022 Workplace Accidents Monitor shows that work-related accidents are particularly common at water companies and waste managers. Below you can see the number of incidents per sector in 2022:
Source: nlLabourinspection.nl
In these sectors, incidents occur mainly in companies with fewer than 10 employees.
Men in particular are victims of serious industrial accidents. Seven out of eight victims are men. This is mainly due to the sectors in which most incidents occur. These sectors in fact employ a large number of men. Fewer incidents occur in sectors where many women are active. Workers under 25 years of age are the main victims.
A strong policy to make safe working practicable brings several benefits:
Even organisations that do have good safety regulations have employees who do not comply. Why is that? Orders need to be completed and projects need to be completed. This applies to all industries, especially in energy, water and waste management. Deadlines are everywhere and people weigh up whether safety guidelines are really necessary or take too much time.
Behaviour is difficult to control. A well thought-out plan of action to eliminate or prevent risks helps. After all, this increases risk awareness.
Besides increasing risk awareness, it is also important that employees report incidents or near-incidents. That way, you gain insight into risks and can take improvement measures. By making incident reporting as easy as possible, you encourage employees to report incidents more quickly.
This was also evident at Triferto. This is an international wholesaler of mineral fertilisers. Safety is a top priority for them. Harold Krikke, Quality coordinator, explains:
“With our previous system, we barely got six reports in six months. With Zenya, that’s 123 within the same time frame!”
Therefore, if you make the incident reporting process simple, you will also receive more reports and tight deadlines will no longer stand in the way!
Working safely is not only about averting machinery accidents and preventing dangerous situations. Security of critical infrastructure (such as energy, water and waste disposal) is also of great importance. According to market researcher Gartner, up to a third of organisations managing critical infrastructure will face incidents within a few years that could directly affect the safety of employees, residents, the public, nature and the environment. In addition, the risk of reputational damage is real.
Technology is playing an increasing role in these organisations. This does not offer only benefits. Organisations where IT plays a major role are at risk of falling victim to, among other things:
Preventing these risks requires information security behaviour.
Read more about security trends that no organisation can ignore anymore here.
Making safe working the norm requires direction, insight and overview. Zenya software provides that. For example, we helped Oasen to get a better overview of the risks within their organisation.
Although risks were previously recorded on paper, I had no overview at all. As a result, some risks were not followed up on. With RISK, I am much more in control thanks to clear reports and clear dashboards.”
Is safe working practice manufacturable? This is overwhelmingly the one-million-dollar question. Yes, with Zenya, safe working is doable, and we are happy to give you a few tips on how to work more safely.
Working safely and encouraging and achieving it requires joint efforts from management and employees. Zenya can play a crucial role in this, for example with Zenya BOOST. Working safely bears fruit when you look at the bigger picture, get to know your own environment better and are more critical. When it comes to physical conditions as well as cyber security.
Zenya does not provide primary security, but rather:
Together, you ensure the manufacturability of workplace safety. Want to know more about our solutions and software for safe working? Then get in touch with us!
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