Every business will eventually reorganize work teams to meet the business’s needs. Sometimes, this will involve laying off workers when previous growth decisions were over-estimated, or the economy pulls back, and demand for products falls. Whatever the reason(s), every business will go through this regularly. But for those businesses that tout “Safety is #1” or “The safety of our workers is our top priority,” it is ALL ABOUT how these changes will be managed with the impact to the SAFETY PROCESS being the top consideration. And by this, I do not mean what it will do to the business’s Injury Rates and worker’s compensation rates, although, as a business, these have to be factored in. When the cuts are so deep, production becomes the sole focus of the “staffing realignment exercise.” Businesses will put on blinders to the impact their cuts will have on TWO very impactful elements of a safety process:
- OSH Training
- Employee Participation
