Workplace safety plans in need of updates
Employee perceptions of workplace safety in Connecticut and across the United States often widely vary from employers’ policies, according to a study by Rave Mobile Safety. Researchers pointed out that the results help reveal employees’ feelings about safety on the job as well as the levels of knowledge and communication currently in place in many workplaces.
Approximately 530 people participated in the study, discussing their own perceptions of safety in the workplace. A vast majority of employees (87 percent) said that they are aware of fire drill policies on the job. That number went down significantly for other types of drills and safety plans, however, as only 57 percent of workers knew about drills for other catastrophic events including weather alerts, active shooter situations and hazardous material leaks.
The results also indicated a generation gap regarding the knowledge of workplace safety information. Among Millennials responding to the survey, 53 percent did not know about emergency plans at their job. On the other hand, only 34 percent of workers over age 45 said that they were unaware of emergency plans at their worksites. While almost 50 percent of workers over 45 expressed their likeliness to report an issue that endangered safety, only 8 percent of Millennials said the same.
As technology changes, the ways of alerting employees to safety issues also can change. The workers that responded to the survey indicated by a wide margin that text messages were their preferred means for safety alerts. However, only 37 percent of the respondents’ workplaces currently have a text message warning system in place.
Safety issues on the job aren’t just limited to best practices for drills and warning systems. When workplace safety goes wrong, there can be serious consequences for injured people on the job. A workers’ compensation attorney can work together with employees that were injured in workplace accidents to protect their rights and seek compensation for medical bills and other expenses.
