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Reader Panel - Is your company spending enough on H and S? |
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Written by COS Editorial Team
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Tuesday, 14 September 2004 |
How well is your company budgeting for health and safety and is it enough? That was the question that Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) posed to its readers recently. As always, there were a large number of respondents to the questions asked by COS, but surprisingly not an overwhelming split one way or the other.
Do you believe that Canadian businesses are cutting back on funding for safety equipment, safety programs or safety committees?
Yes: 33 = 47%
No: 37 = 53%
COS expected the numbers for this question to be skewed more heavily to one side of the equation or the other. But according to the 70 readers who responded to the survey, health and safety budgets are now pretty much seen as part of the overall budget process in a company, not a separate item. If a company is doing well, there is going to be more money to spend on health and safety measures and training. If there is budget tightening, then health and safety will feel the same belt-tightening as the rest of the company.
"Annual health and safety budgets need to be line items in the accounting system and the operating budget, and reviewed on a scheduled basis," said one reader. Another reader responded that "funding is always commensurate with profits." If profits are up then there is more money available for health and safety initiatives. Another said that his company did not hesitate to provide the necessary funds and equipment needed for health and safety. "I have had zero problems with anything that I ask for," the reader wrote. "They also send me information on all the resources that are available within the company already."
Describe the degree of impact you think employer budget restrictions have had on safety in the last 18 months.
1 - little or no effect: 14 = 20%
2: 11 = 16%
3: 9 = 13%
4: 9 = 13%
5: 9 = 13%
6: 6 = 9%
7: 7 = 10%
8: 2 = 3%
9: 2 = 3%
10 - very high effect: 1 = 1%
Would you say that both safety programs and safety products are equally affected by employer budget restrictions?
Yes: 45 = 64%
No: 25 = 36%
As before, the range of opinion amongst the readers who responded to these two survey questions was not as dramatic as COS expected. Some readers felt that their companies were doing well in providing the necessary funds for health and safety, even during times of belt-tightening. One reader believed that money was not as important a factor in how well a company's health and safety programs and initiatives worked, but was more dependent on whether upper management was behind the initiatives. "Active management support at all levels is far more important than more money," the reader suggested. Still, others worried that budget restrictions were having an impact on overall health and safety initiatives. "Fewer resources are available for training. Safety personnel have been cut back to meet manning, productivity and budget requirements," one reader wrote. One reader said that when the "ax falls, employers tend to cut supplies (equipment), human resources (safety personnel) and training."
One reader suggested that safety budgets at the company he worked for have not been seriously affected by budgets constraints because the budget for health and safety had always been low: "Business is unlikely to provide funding adequate to establish and maintain an 'optimal' safety program because an average program seems to provide benefits." One reader pointed out the often fine line that exists between safety and funding. A company can fund a program sufficiently but not see any benefit if the health and safety plan is inadequate or poorly rolled out. But going in the opposite direction can be just as problematic: "There's a fine line drawn between funding and safety," the reader wrote. "You can fund your safety program too little which could relate to lack of equipment use or improper equipment being purchased and which could end up causing injury to workers."
Others complained that even if health and safety program are well funded, the way the programs are set up or operate often bring little benefit. One reader opined that too much money and time was being wasted on meetings and committees that offered few if any benefits to employees or the employer while another reader wrote that safety budgets often were increased not because of any real safety or health problem at a company but "due to the fear of reprisals (fines, orders, audits) and not out of good risk management principals."
Do you think it will be provided?
Yes: 34 = 49%
No: 36 = 51%
As before, the range of opinion was pretty evenly split amongst reader to this question. What was interesting is that many said money was often the key factor in how well a health and safety initiative or program would work in a company. Instead, success was often a matter of attitude amongst employees and management. If employees and management are not behind health and safety initiatives and programs then providing more money will often not make a work environment safer or reduce the numbers of injuries or fatalities. "Safety support is an attitude developed within a company," one reader wrote. "Throwing more money at safety without an accompanying safety philosophy and commitment is useless." Another said that companies needed to be educated more on how safety impacts the bottom line and that workplace injury should not been seen as just part of doing a job: "Companies seem to be willing to regard injuries and lost time as a cost of doing business."
If there was a unusual thing about this survey was that no readers answered the question: "How much more funding do you see as the minimum to provide an optimal safety environment in your company?" None here at COS could find out a reason why everyone did not respond, but we would like to know. Is it because there is no way of accurately stating how much of an increase in a safety budget would actually translate into improved health and safety numbers in a company or is it because health and safety issues are more complicated than a simple budgetary number can really show? Either way, COS would like to know as reader feedback is often the way we discover issues that are important to health and safety professionals along with employers and employees, and it gives us here at COS more things to think about and to write about in the future. So keeps those responses coming and don't hesitate to let us know what you think.
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