Will You Prioritize Employee Safety In 2023?

Employee safety should top every company’s to-do list

The end of the year is always a busy time for company leaders—squeezing in last-minute meetings with clients, setting goals for the months ahead, looking back at successes and challenges, and, of course, celebrating the holidays with loved ones. Despite the chaos that typically ensues in December, it is critical that company executives and HR teams prioritize certain focus areas when planning for the new year. Employee safety is one of those priorities—and should top every company’s to-do list for 2023. 

Rave Mobile Safety surveyed 500 respondents on workplace safety and learned that less than half (43%) felt workplace safety is extremely important to their employer. With Covid-19 challenging norms, civil unrest unfolding across the nation, active assailant threats persisting, and severe weather incidents occurring more frequently, employers must consider and plan for emergency situations so that their greatest assets – their employees – are protected from harm. 

 

Embracing Duty of Care 

Most seasoned business leaders understand and embrace the logic that preparation is essential for success, but how much time do they spend analyzing their duty of care responsibilities and objectives? Corporate leaders have a fiduciary responsibility to adopt sound safety strategies so that personnel feels protected and empowered – regardless of whether they are working onsite, remotely, or in a hybrid fashion.

The recent Rave survey shows that 77% of employees generally feel safe at work but think that there are additional steps that employers can take to improve overall sentiments about safety. The safety journey begins with an assessment of the current safety infrastructure to determine if the right resources, tools, and plans are in place to mitigate, respond to, and recover from adverse events. 

Mass notification tools, for example, can help company leaders quickly and reliably send messages via different channels so that employees are apprised of emergency situations, aware of company protocols, and updated about emerging details. Notifications can be delivered via text messages, emails, desktop computers, and other systems so that confusion is avoided, and fears are allayed. 

Marshal McLuhan, a famous communication theorist, coined the phrase, “the medium is the message” in 1964 to emphasize that the way messages are conveyed is more important than the actual message. Employers need to share information via the channels that employees value most, but employers still communicate with staff about emergencies via email (41%), in-person announcements (38%), and mass text messages (36%) even though employees would prefer to be notified via mass text messages (43%), an intercom system announcement or building alarm (40%), and to a lesser extent, email (31%). Knowing your audience and their preferences are essential, especially when it comes to safety.

By using the multimodal notification channels embraced by employees, company leaders and HR teams will feel more confident that their messages are being received in a timely manner and that staff is aware of company directives.

Considering Hybrid and Remote Workers’ Safety

In addition to understanding the most effective communication channels for emergency messaging, employers must also consider where employees are working and the potential impact of events on them and their work practices. Rave found that 57% of remote workers and 60% of traveling workers are involved in safety drills, an increase from last year when only 28% of remote or traveling workers were involved in safety drills. While this progress is noteworthy and dictated by the prevalence of remote and hybrid workers these days, all employees need to be on the same page about emergency safety protocols and business continuity plans. Rave research shows that 63% of employees understand business continuity plans in the event of an emergency, but remote and hybrid employees are less informed. 

Taking a Page Out of School Safety Best Practices

Business professionals love best practices and when it comes to safety, they can learn valuable lessons from their counterparts in the education field—both at the K12 level and in higher education. Schools across the country utilize communications and collaboration technology to protect staff and students during emergencies and planned events. These same innovative tools work just as well in the corporate world.

In addition to using mass notification tools, company executives and HR leaders can employ panic buttons or personalized apps to quickly and reliably convey messages. In addition to being relevant resources for today, these solutions store and share important content, streamline workflows during emergency scenarios, and capture data for reporting and review. 

Panic buttons can instantly communicate emergencies to on-site personnel, 9-1-1 call takers, and first responders to ensure a coordinated, immediate response and share, based on permissions, the exact location of the emergency, facility data, and more for optimal situational awareness. Personalized apps can help HR teams and company leaders connect with colleagues, help with operational efficiencies, and engage workers wherever they may be. Apps enhance employee peace of mind by offering both two-way communications and discrete anonymous tip lines. 

Safety technology tools, which have performed well in the education space, are increasingly being adopted in the corporate sector because more businesses are realizing their return on investment (ROI). As you begin to tackle your company’s goals for the upcoming year, remember the vital role that employees play in achieving lofty objectives—and commit to making workplace safety a priority in 2023 for the benefit of personnel and the bottom line. 

Hope McIntosh is the Chief Revenue Officer at Rave Mobile Safety. Hope has amassed a 20+ year career in the technology sector with tech companies such as Honeywell, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Mele Associates, VMware, Air Watch, ANM, and MCG, LLC.; having positions and consulting projects that have taken her across the globe and within the 50 states. With a proven track record in multiple domains within the tech space, Hope has relevant expertise and experience in Computer Engineering, IT Operations, Application and Platform Management, Project Management, Consulting, Sales, Sales leadership, Strategy and Business Development. Connect Hope McIntosh