I have often wondered why safety is one of those things that everyone agrees is important, yet somehow it can still become an afterthought - Until something happens.

We worry about production. Deadlines. Clients. Budgets. Getting the job finished. And when safety gets in the way of one of those things, there can be a temptation to take the shortcut.

“It will be fine.”

“We've done it like this before”

“Nothing has happened yet.”

“Quickly”

When we talk about a serious workplace accident, we often talk about the cost to the company. The investigation. Legal fees. Fines. Compensation. Lost production.

But I think we need to look much further than that.

Imagine having to phone someone's wife and tell her that her husband isn't coming home tonight. Or someone's mother. Someone's father. A child who went to school that morning expecting Mom or Dad to be home later.

That person wasn't just an employee with a job title and an employee number. They were part of a family. They were someone's person.

And the consequences don't stop with that family either.

What about the manager who knew something wasn't right but allowed the work to continue? What happens to that person afterwards?

There may be an investigation. There may be legal consequences. In serious circumstances, there could even be criminal consequences. And now their family is affected too.

Then there is the business owner.

If negligence leads to prosecution, penalties or the company being unable to continue operating, it doesn't only affect the owner. What happens to every other employee who depends on that business to put food on the table?

One shortcut can travel a very long way - That's what I think we sometimes forget about health and safety.

The law isn't there simply to make running a business more difficult. A risk assessment isn't supposed to be a piece of paper we complete because somebody told us to. A safety file isn't something we prepare so that we can produce it when an inspector arrives.

There is a reason behind all of it - People must go home.

Of course businesses need to make money. We need to meet deadlines and keep clients happy. We need to get the work done, but surely none of those things can be more important than somebody going home at the end of the day?

And perhaps that's where our thinking about safety needs to change.

Instead of asking:

“Do we really have to do this?”

Maybe we should be asking:

“What could happen if we don't?”

And then keep asking that question.

What happens to the employee?

What happens to their family?

What happens to the manager?

What happens to the manager's family?

What happens to the owner?

What happens to the business?

And what happens to everyone who depends on that business for their livelihood?

When you follow that chain far enough, suddenly that safety requirement that seemed inconvenient doesn't seem quite so inconvenient anymore.

We have health and safety laws for a reason. We should stop seeing them as an administrative burden and start respecting what they are actually trying to achieve.

Because sometimes the true cost of ignoring safety can't be measured in money value - and sometimes, once the price has been paid, there is no way to undo it.

Celia Dekker

C and Co Consulting