Moving into the first year of the decade, it is prudent to keep track of the trends that are taking shape and is likely to influence occupational safety and health to a large extent.
FREMONT, CA: The occupational safety and health sector is continually evolving and changing. Employee expectations, workforce demographics, and other factors are changing the training methods and tools that HR managers use to improve the safety of the workplace.
Moving into the first year of the decade, it is prudent to keep track of the trends that are taking shape and are likely to influence occupational safety and health to a large extent. Although it is unpredictable what the future will bring, these four trends will surely have an impact on the field.
Focus on Total Health
Occupational safety and health, until now, has focused on keeping workers safe at work and protecting them from the risks arising out of their work. The Total Worker Health Program, launched in 2011, took initiatives to support the overall health and well-being of workers both on and off the job. The overall well-being in the workplace depends on a series of things like number of hours a person works, how much he earns, and emphasis on health in the workplace. Hence, HR managers should follow the trend of supporting all aspects of employee well-being, i.e., physical, social, mental, and financial health.
Workplace Safety Programs
The last few years have observed a steep rise in the awareness regarding the inevitability of workplace health and safety programs. High-tech tools and methods like online, self-directed training programs and modules, apps focused on maintaining worker safety and health, tools designed to give people more autonomy over their own health were used for training. But, all these high-tech solutions turned out to be a part of the puzzle. Workers want more personalized experience rather than formal training. Hence the present decade is more likely to see safety programs that incorporate both technology and customized solutions.
Changing Workforce Demographics
Millennials are the largest generation of the workforce now, and they have entirely different expectations for the work, and other factors related to it. Looking at the occupational safety and health professionals- most of them have reached or soon will reach the retirement age, and attracting millennials for this role is quite critical. A survey reported that 62 percent of managers believe there is a shortage of qualified professionals in the field, and 65 percent of the openings will be filled by internal candidates, irrespective of their experience.
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