There is plenty happening in safety this month, especially with movement and management around public holidays.
Hopefully you managed to spend some time with family and friends across the Easter Break and even take some down time to rest and re-energise.
Though from the conversation at our Safety Forum this month, it appears that most Safety professionals have more on their plate than ever before and juggling is becoming a pre-requisite of the role.
We held our April Safety People Forum last week and If you didn’t get a chance to attend here are some of the highlights.
Return to Work
Return to work and moving teams back into the office was a big part of the discussion.
Most businesses are experimenting with a hybrid model. 2-3 Days in the office with the other days worked from home.
With this in mind, hot desking and the management of hot desks is becoming an issue, with most people identifying that it’s not working as well as they would like.
Many attendees were finding resistance to returning to the office. With low numbers onsite actually creating feelings of isolation for some workers. Other businesses were experiencing workers missing-in-action (remotely) during work hours which was becoming frustrating for making contact when needed.
Interestingly some Managers pointed out that younger team members were more likely to want to return to the office, while older ones with children and fur children (pets) were less enthusiastic.
The businesses that were finding the most success highlighted the need for consultation with workers rather than making definitive decision on return VS remote without them.
Your Future Safety Team
Finding quality team members was highlighted once again, with a number of Safety responsibilities being shared between staff.
Qualified and experience Safety Professional candidates are currently few and far between. So there was an emphasis on snapping up good people as soon as they present themselves to avoid losing them to other opportunities.
What the Safety Professional of the future looks like was also on the cards. Looking at industries where working remotely is not a new thing was one solution. But with Safety people now sharing and juggling additional responsibilities and limited qualified and experienced safety people entering the industry, business as usual may not be returning at all.
Now may be the time to start reviewing the Safety conversation within your business to identify new needs that were not present only 2 years ago.
If you’re a Safety Professional, we’d love you to attend the next Safety People Forum in May. You can book your seat and get all the information right here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/may-safety-people-forum-tickets-328498456727