Why does your employer ignore safety?

You know that safety in the workplace is important. You know that OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has strict regulations.

However, you can’t shake the feeling that your employer just ignores basic safety regulations on a consistent basis. You can’t figure it out. Why would something so important be neglected?

One reason that experts note is that some companies don’t think safety is worth the time. They’re focused on production. Slowing down to do the job the right way or to implement safety gear takes away from that production.

Others think that they are losing money. They don’t want to buy fall protection gear, for instance, when they can just hope that workers don’t fall.

Other companies simply do not prioritize workplace safety. It’s not that your boss wants the workplace to be unsafe. He or she is just thinking about other things. Little rule violations go overlooked. When OSHA comes in to do an inspection, your boss may be honestly surprised about all of the violations that are found.

Experts do point out that these reasons don’t always stand up to close scrutiny. Injuries are costly and time-consuming, for example, so companies may end up wasting more time and money by ignoring regulations. That doesn’t stop them from doing it, though.

Working in an unsafe space is stressful and potentially very dangerous. It’s critical for employees to know all of the legal rights that they have. This is especially true if they are injured and wind up facing a lot of financial hurdles, from high medical costs to lost wages due to time spent out of the workforce.

Source: Bayt, “Health and safety, why do so many companies ignore it?,” Adrian Lamond, accessed Sep. 21, 2017