WH&S Investment pays Dividends!
As a workplace health and safety practitioner I find that, the biggest barriers cited by businesses are concerns that they will not see a return on investment.
The difficulty in responding to these concerns is that if someone has done little in relation to workplace health and safety to date and seen little consequences in terms of injuries, costs or penalties, they are unlikely to agree that they need to do anything at all. Until of course something does happen and then it is not really a question of return of investment but in mitigating financial, legal, and other costs.
Legislation of course requires persons conducting a business or undertaking to ensure the health and safety of workers and others. Aiming to comply with legislation is always a good start, but a regular question I am asked is why would a business want to go beyond compliance?
A recent study titled “Tracking the Market Performance of Companies That Integrate a Culture of Health and Safety: An Assessment of Corporate Health Achievement Award Applicants”studied the stock market performance of companies that had received awards for health and safety in North America.
The authors tracked the stock market performance of 17 companies using six investment modelling scenarios over a 13-year period.
In the study the hypothetical investment returns for the companies were significantly higher than average S&P 500 returns – as much as triple in some of the scenarios. The authors concluded that companies that score high in health and/or safety are associated with superior marketplace performance.
This is fantastic news for businesses that want to invest in workplace health and safety but are concerned that they will not see a return on their investment. Not only will investing in workplace keep your workers safety and healthy and your organization on the correct side of the law, it could potentially provide many more broader benefits in terms of financial performance over the longer term.
At HR Business Direction we are able to assist you with identifying your WH&S issues, assessing risks and implementing controls. Contact us here.
Related blogs: WH&S – is starting small the key; Buyer Beware – Generic WH&S
Christina WillcoxMHSc; PostGradDip OHS; BBus(HRM)
Workplace Health & Safety Specialist
christina.willcox@hrbd.com.au
07 3890 2066
www.hrbd.com.au
