WSPS.CA | 2022 HEALTH & SAFETY LEADERSHIP SURVEY WHITE PAPER 7
KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
HEALTH & SAFETY IS KEY TO SUCCESS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Across all respondents (Leading to Start of Journey and all industries)
98% indicate that a robust health & safety strategy is important to overall
business success.
The same number—across all industries—agree that having a culture of health
and safety is key to sustainability.
EMPLOYERS WHO CREATE PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE
WORKPLACE CULTURES ARE POISED TO WIN IN THE BATTLE FOR TALENT
More than half of respondents report that attraction and retention is their
biggest business challenge. It is now number one on the list of the top
five challenges.
There is near universal acknowledgement that ensuring employees' safety
and wellbeing is key to attracting and retaining talent. And, 32% of employers—
12 percentage points more than last year – said that being viewed as a more
attractive employer is a key observed benefit of a good health and safety
program.
Employers say they are losing employees due to preventable issues (71%).
Both employers and employees agree that the primary reasons for leaving
are increased workload and mental health. However, employers say the other
primary reasons for departure are early retirement and the desire to stay on
government benefits. Employees, on the other hand, attribute departures to
the desire for increased flexibility, or, in cases where workload has increased,
additional pay.
LEADERS MUST BE STEADFAST IN THEIR COMMITMENT TO
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Overall, 82% say senior leaders are actively involved in health and safety.
However, 96% of Leading organizations say leaders are actively involved,
and 93% of Proactive respondents say the same.
Only 82% of respondents, overall, say their leadership team understands the
correlation between health and safety and business performance. Again, the
numbers are much higher in Leading and Proactive workplaces at 99% and
92% respectively.
Among challenges hindering the implementation of health and safety, lack of
senior leadership support grew 14 percentage points to 25%.
Lack of support across senior management is a particular issue for businesses
in the Reactive (53%) and Start of Journey (56%) categories, and is felt most
acutely in the retail (38%) and construction (36%) sectors.
