Business innovation and health and safety are sometimes uncomfortable bedfellows, but companies that take a strategic approach to employee wellbeing are reaping the rewards.
Health and safety is often seen as a brake on innovation, especially for businesses that are growing and want to produce more great products and services. They’re focused on getting these to market and health and safety can sometimes be overlooked.
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But a health and safety policy doesn’t have to get in the way. In fact it can give a company a boost, by providing the right tools to make employees feel empowered and appreciated. 3M is an example of a company working to help others create this culture. It has developed a line of services and products it says could help, including:
Expertise: Through its technical services team, specialist sales teams, helpline, webinar programme, website and online community it is providing free of charge help and advice on all aspects of its PPE.
Products designed for wearers: Through its global laboratory network, research into the science of fit and vast number of technology platforms, 3M works hard to design the products that people want to wear.
Trust: 3M is over 110 years old and has over 40 years of experience in supplying the safety industry. It is a company that is trusted to deliver time and time again.
But tools are only part of the equation. The next step is to get the whole team moving in the same direction, from the people who purchase equipment to those who use it to do their jobs on a day-to-day basis.
“An effective health and safety management programme relies on a company working together across functions. Health and safety managers are the experts, but need the support from purchasing managers to source the most suitable equipment,” says Rob Green, Senior Marketing Executive at 3M.
“3M have a team of local, highly trained PPE specialists who are on hand to help customers select and use 3M products. In turn this team is supported by additional product experts who are able to assist in all manner of applications.”
3M has produced a series of YouTube videos to underline the importance of innovation – as well as other key themes – in health and safety practice. The videos star Barry, played by Ewen Macintosh who appeared in The Office, and parody a purchasing manager who cuts corners and makes terrible choices.
“Health and safety managers have to make well thought through, calculated decisions every day. These can sometimes be compromised by other stakeholders in their business who make choices (in the case of our character Barry, a procurement choice) based on their own opinion or agenda,” says Rob, explaining the motivation behind the videos.
“Health and safety is the responsibility of the whole organisation, but decision making should be driven by the health and safety professionals.
“Each video takes a different aspect of health and safety and parodies ill-informed decision making. By taking an extreme and making people laugh we hope that the videos will be shared, spreading the message that health and safety is extremely important to a varied audience.”
Click on this YouTube link to watch the videos and download a free 3M Wise Choices Pack
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