In the article, “Workers Rate Safety Most Important Workplace Issue” in EHS Today, the author states that more than eight out of ten workers ranked workplace safety first in importance among labor standards.  Safety ranked higher than maternity leave, minimum wage, paid sick days and overtime pay.

Even though workplace safety is high on the list of workers, many other outlets. such as the media, focus on the external effects after an accident has happened.  For example, Tom W. Smith, director of NORC’s General Social Survey, discusses that during the recent oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, much focus was put on the environmental implications of the accident rather than the safety concerns that caused the accident to happen.  He stated that if optimal safety had been maintained, not only would the lives of 11 workers been saved but the whole environmental disaster would have been averted.

Companies and media should put a heavier focus on the causes of the accidents and how to prevent them by providing workers with proper equipment and safe work areas. An example of one type of safety equipment that can help companies ensure preventative measures are being taken to provide safety and avoid accidents is metal safety flooring.  Non-slip metal safety flooring is an investment that companies can make to protect workers from areas within facilities that are usually slippery and dangerous.  Slip resistant metal safety flooring ensures workers are safe even in oily, greasy and other slippery conditions.

“Workers Rate Safety Most Important Workplace Issue.” EHS Today August 2010, p. 17.

Filed under: Workplace Safety by Beth Faraci Social tagging: metal safety flooring > Workplace Safety