What Industry Has the Best Safety Culture? These Findings Might Just Surprise You

There are a number of industries that require proper PPE in order for employees to feel safe at work, but did you know which industry has the best safety culture?

Safety at work should be one of your very top priorities as an employer. Workers in a range of industries come into potential hazards and dangers every day, like using heavy equipment, being around potentially harmful gasses, or working on electrical lines.

For companies that work in these kinds of environments, safety at work should be deeply embedded into the company’s culture and be a focus of everything that they do.

The industry with the best safety culture

You may find it surprising, but it’s the oil and gas industry that consistently holds the top position when it comes to industries with the best safety culture.

Many studies into the subject of safety at work have shown that despite having lower revenues, the oil and gas industry spends a lot of money on improving the health of their workers—which includes ensuring that good health and safety measures are always in place.

Despite low oil prices and the cost-cutting techniques oil and gas companies have used, this hasn’t had a negative effect on the health of workers in the industry.

Over the past 5 years, there has been a consistent increase in the safety of oil and gas workers, which compares positively to international benchmarks for good practice.

Industry leaders in this sector have consistently pushed for new, innovative ways to keep a hold on the industry’s safety standards, making it far less risky to work in oil and gas.

The sector has heavily invested in reducing vehicle collisions, using drone technology to offer birds-eye views of worksites, adopting GPS technologies to improve communication, early uptake of AI and robotics technology, and big improvements when it comes to managing the mental health and stress of workers.

What makes a good safety culture?

Creating a positive safety culture in any company, regardless of size, can be difficult and take a long time to properly embed into your organisation.

Here are some of the things that are vital for a good safety culture in your company:

• Support from those in leadership and management positions early on
• Focus on safety in everything that you do
• All staff are trained as part of the on-boarding process on the company’s safety guidelines
• Regular training and check-ins to ensure that everyone continues following safety practice - adopting methods of continuous improvement
• Feedback from employees at all levels is welcomed
• Workers are encouraged to raise questions when they’re concerned about their own safety
• Teamwork among employees to improve health and safety at work is rewarded