"For safety is not a gadget but a state of mind." - Eleanor Everet, safety expert.
Many accidents, both fatal and non-fatal, happen at the workplace. This is especially so for construction and manufacturing related businesses. When accidents happen, many people are affected. First and foremost are the workers who suffer from the accident, followed by their families. Companies suffer too in terms of production, reputation, and in many cases, legally as well when they get sued or are forced to pay claims for damages, etc. In Singapore, the primary government body tasked to oversee workers’ safety and health at the workplace is the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC). One of their most important tools for ensuring the safety and health at workplaces is bizSAFE, which is a combination of the words “business” and “safe”. BizSAFE is a program that is broken down into 5 major steps, which helps Singaporean companies – particularly small and medium scale enterprises – to achieve optimal safety and health conditions in their workplaces.
Enterprise Benefits
Why should businesses enroll for the bizSAFE program? It’s because of the numerous benefits attached to it, foremost of which are those that accrue to the business or enterprise itself. The primary enterprise benefit of enrolling under the program is that the enterprise’s workplace becomes a very safe and healthy one. And when the enterprise achieves such a high level of workplace safety and health, their competitive edge over competitors who aren’t enrolled in the program will become even greater in different ways. One is in the area of manpower. When industry specialists know that an enterprise takes care of their workers' health and safety at the workplace so much more than the rest of the pack, they’ll be more inclined to work for that enterprise. Another area of competitive edge for the enterprise are the customers. In this day and age where consumers are very particular about corporate social responsibility when it comes to choosing which businesses to patronize, having the distinction of having completed all of the program’s 5 steps can set an enterprise apart from the competition in the eyes of their market. Lastly, government projects can be considered a goldmine for most small and medium scale businesses. When an enterprise is able to complete the program and become bizSAFE certified, it becomes eligible to bid for government-related projects, which can give it a very big financial boost!
Partner Benefits
When enterprises undergo the bizSAFE program and successfully complete it, it’s not just them who benefits. Their business partners do too! How? Think of it this way. If a business’s workers regularly get into accidents or fall sick while in the workplace, what do you think will happen? That’s right, that company’s production will become inconsistent and may consequently suffer serious contractions in production levels. And when that happens, what do you think will happen to its customers, especially if they’re businesses that provide an end product to end consumers? Their production or ability to meet their own customers’ requirements may suffer too. Frequent workplace accidents and sicknesses can have ripple effects that may extend to an enterprise’s customers and even those customers’ end customers!
Not An Option
For businesses that want to continue enjoying great market share, the ability to get top-notch talent for their workforce, and stay very profitable, going through the bizSAFE program is neither something optional nor should be put off until the time is right. It should be considered mandatory and urgent!
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