The occupational health and safety arms of international, federal and state agencies enforce thousands of constantly changing regulations for an array of workplaces ranging from industrial factory floors and ships at sea to farms and computer workstation ergonomics. With penalties ranging from simple citations to fines up to $145,027, senior managers with advanced training in workplace safety play a strategic role in business management.
“Safety must report to the highest level of that organization because their work impacts everybody else,” according to The Safety Geek, a safety training provider. “Safety is equal to operations, it’s equal to sales, it’s equal to quality.”
Effective safety protocols deliver competitive advantages by ensuring compliance, increasing productivity, enhancing the brand image in labor markets and reducing costs.
How Do Business Professionals Prepare to Lead the Development of Safety Protocols?
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a Concentration in Safety equips graduates with the insights and expertise to advise companies on best practices for safety procedures and lead strategy implementation.
The AACSB-accredited MBA with a Concentration in Safety program offered online by Southeastern Oklahoma State University, for instance, explores the theories and real-world applications of critical issues, including the following:
Advanced Safety Management
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) advises a proactive approach to workplace safety and health management. Companies that stay abreast of anticipated revisions or additions to published regulations are better positioned to find and fix problems before an adverse event happens, avoid noncompliance entanglement and potentially realize reductions in worker compensation premiums.
OSHA also recommends several steps for implementing a forward-looking approach to safety management that includes making a strategic investment in health and safety, providing training, seeking employee input on safety issues and integrating input into processes.
Crisis Preparedness and Occupational Safety Studies
Organizations must be ready to address threats and crises in many spaces, such as homeland security, on-site and off-site, terrorist activity and cyberthreats. Crises due to natural disasters, fires, transportation accidents and terrorism require special planning to prepare employees for the potential dangers and policies to protect their safety and mitigate the damage. The COVID-19 pandemic kickstarted several new safety approaches related to disease spread across sectors.
The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) suggests that safety managers appoint crisis-response leaders and teams within business units, ensuring they are trained in established crisis preparedness tactics, have access to templates outlining communication procedures and conduct emergency simulations regularly.
The IFEBP also notes that two-way communication with employees is a critical factor in developing crisis-response plans, adding that managers should pay attention to “their emotional tone” and specific ideas.
“Both are crucial for mutual understanding and, ultimately, helping everyone to get back on their feet,” it says.
Legal Liability and Workers Compensation
Penalties and fines for violations of safety and health regulations, the Americans with Disabilities Act and workers’ compensation requirements are all governed by a universe of factors, including the seriousness of the breach, employers’ cooperation in remedying the problem and an organization’s history of citations.
The maximum OSHA penalty in 2022 ranged from $0 for minor violations to $14,502 per serious violation, with a $14,502 per-day late penalty for failing to fix the problem within a 30-day limit. Deliberate or repeated disregard of regulations could draw a maximum of $145,027 per violation.
Moreover, state or federal criminal prosecution may result from a fatal accident attributed to a willful disregard for health and safety regulations, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Occupational Health and Safety Statistics
Understanding the data and trends behind the 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported in 2021 is crucial to ensuring safety protocols address the root causes of accidents and avoiding the potential complacency of an XX-days-without-an-accident mindset.
Maintaining accurate data at the company level is a best practice that helps recruit, hire and retain top performers, according to AlertMedia.
Workers are “expecting more from their employers in turn,” the crisis-communications vendor notes, adding that companies with strong safety protocols “are far more likely to retain top talent and enjoy better brand recognition than their competitors.”
How an Advanced Degree Can Help
Overall, effective health and safety policies ensure compliance and increase productivity by limiting time lost to accident and illness, enhancing the brand reputation for recruiting and retention and reducing insurance costs and workers’ compensation claims.
Graduates of an advanced business degree with a focus on safety obtain the entrepreneurial skills and safety knowledge to protect organizations’ employees and reputations.
Learn more about Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s online MBA with a Concentration in Safety program.