Do Management Systems Really Improve Health and Safety Performance?

By Dave R. Meyer, Principal Consultant, BSI

Workplace safety is one of the most important contributors to running a successful business. However, for years millions of companies around the globe have struggled to determine how to best manage their onsite safety issues while maintaining superior operational performance. Standards often impose requirements on day-to-day processes that can directly slow down or even halt production procedures. There have been no comprehensive studies conducted to suggest that implementing and adopting safety management standards has any correlation with operational performance and organizational success…until now.

Safety in the workplace undoubtedly has a significant impact on overall worker health and well-being but determining whether safety procedures are truly effective is difficult to measure. Harvard Business School (HBS) recently analyzed propriety certification data from some of the world’s largest certification companies as well as injury microdata from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to answer this question: do management system standards and certification really improve performance? And the outcome is astonishing. HBS reports companies that have adopted the OHSAS 18001 management system standards and by inference its subsequent replacement, ISO 45001:2018, saw a 20% decline in overall injury and illness rates. This, along with other results, provides empirical evidence that adoption of a safety management system certification leads to greater and improved operational performance.

Many organizations talk about safety first, but often it’s just talk. Having a systematic approach to safety that encourages participation drives accountability and responsibility throughout every level of the workforce, creating a safety culture. Ultimately it becomes everybody's responsibility, which is particularly relevant now as companies are trying to hire at unprecedented rates. Safer working environments result in better employee recruitment, retention, and satisfaction, less employee downtime, reduced workers' compensation claims and insurance premiums, and reduced time spent retraining personnel and repairing damaged equipment because of an accidental incident. Workers can proactively avoid and prevent incidents from occurring when safety best practices are applied across all departments and facilities within an organization. Through job hazard analysis and risk assessments, safety risks will vastly decrease, allowing for more time to be spent on areas that have the highest threats.

To mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work, on April 28, Dave R. Meyer, Principal Consultant in BSI’s Environment, Health, Safety and Security (EH3S) practice, will be speaking with Professor Michael W. Toffel from HBS during one of two webinars exploring whether management system standards and certification improves business performance. During this session, you’ll find out more about HBS’s research and discover the organizational impact of safety certification.

Click to learn more about the webinar: How management systems improve health and safety performance

Dave Meyer

Dave R. Meyer

Dave R. Meyer, Principal Consultant, BSI

Mr Dave R. Meyer, a Principal Consultant and BSI Consulting Regional Practice Leader for Sustainability and Management systems, is located in the Portland Oregon area.

An EHS and sustainability-focused practitioner with over 40 years of experience in corporate governance and environmental, health and safety (EHS) compliance issues, Dave has supported a wide variety of clients in providing EHS, management systems and supplier responsibility audit support.

Dave has a deep track record of success in leading organizations in leveraging regulatory compliance and organizational risks, implementing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives, and identifying methods and practices to reduce waste in the production of consumer and industrial goods. As a qualified ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 Lead Auditor, he is accomplished in public/private sector ISO-based EHS management systems. 

His nine years of experience with BSI have been focused on responsible supply chain management, circular economy and life cycle based approaches to production and manufacturing, comprehensive EHS auditing and compliance (including performing EHS assessments throughout the U.S., Canada and western Europe), integrated management systems, corporate materiality assessments and responsibility reporting, and embedded sustainability strategy and implementation.