2016 Safety Study: Seven key findings

10/3/2016

Respondents to the Plant Engineering 2016 Safety Study identified seven high-level findings impacting the manufacturing industries today:

1. Commitment to safety: More than two-thirds of senior management and operations personnel are very committed to safety in their facilities, followed by line supervisors (55%) and line workers (48%).

2. Work group safety: The work groups that feel the safest in their daily tasks are plant management/corporate executives (74%), safety executives/managers (70%), and engineering (61%).

3. Safety programs: Ninety-seven percent of respondents believe their employees feel safe on the job, and 83% have observed an increase in productivity over time due to the implementation of a safety program. The costs of injuries and insurance claims have also decreased since following a safety program.

4. Enforcement: More than 70% of facilities hold regular safety meetings, perform safety audits, and have established a safety committee in order to enforce safety methods. Another 69% have implemented job safety analysis procedures.

5. Safety meetings: The majority of safety meetings are held on a monthly basis, and the most active contributors are safety executives/managers (67%), plant management/corporate executives (66%), line workers (63%), operations (61%), and maintenance personnel (60%).

6. Safety strategies, technologies: The top strategies or technologies that facilities use to enforce safety include personal protective equipment (86%), lockout/tagout procedures (78%), job safety analysis (69%), and internal safety audits (68%).

7. Measuring success: Three-quarters of facilities measure their safety success by their number of accident reports and near-miss events, while 68% compare their OSHA recordables/time-lost accidents, and 43% observe lower workers’ compensation costs. The average facility has experienced two OSHA-recordable incidents within the past 6 months, only one of which resulted in lost time.

Access the full 2016 Safety report to view additional key findings.

The Plant Engineering 2016 Safety Study is sponsored by

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