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Safety Management Objectives

Safety management practices are put into place with the objective to keep employees free from risks and hazards in the workplace that can threaten their health and safety. Since OSHA, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, dictates that employees have the right to feeling, and being, safe in the workplace, employers are mandated to create safety management protocols that apply to their business organizations. Safety management objectives include sustaining safety in the workplace, as well as minimizing the risk of exposure to health and safety hazards.

  1. Injury Prevention

    • Work environments can be dangerous, and if employers don't take appropriate precautions, accidents, injuries and fatalities can occur in the workplace. Therefore, injury prevention is a safety management objective for businesses. Whether employees work out in the field or behind a desk, employers must ensure environmental safety to decrease the risk of injuries. Injury prevention relies on identifying and eliminating potential hazards that can jeopardize employees' welfare. Identifying hazards requires analysis of the workplace to determine what areas, machines, projects or other work-related elements pose a safety threat. For instance, if two employees cut themselves on a machine, employers may consider the machine a hazard. As such, steps will be taken to eliminate the hazard, either by replacing or safeguarding the machine.

    Emergency Readiness

    • Being prepared to respond to an emergency situation is another safety management objective. Having emergency plans, or crisis plans, allows companies to be ready for evacuating a building, leading employees to safety and making sure appropriate emergency protocols are being followed to ensure the physical safety and health of everyone on a company's premises. According to Public Safety Canada, emergency readiness means knowing how to react when there are natural disasters, pandemic outbreaks, violent or criminal activities, such as robbery and fires. To accomplish the emergency readiness objective of safety management, businesses conduct drills, such as fire drills and disaster drills, to give employees practice in evacuating the building in an urgent, but organized, manner.

    Training Objectives

    • Ensuring that employees are adequately trained on safety protocols in the office is another safety management objective that businesses develop. The Oklahoma State University conducts quarterly safety trainings that help to maintain a safer work environment and foster better communication about safety issues in the workplace. The Oklahoma State University explains that heightening employees' safety awareness can decrease the amount of injuries in the workplace, as well as minimize the amount of worker compensation claims a company receives.

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