Ansell Publishes Second Edition of Hand Safety Report in Partnership with NSCA Foundation

Ansell, in partnership with National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA) Foundation, conducted a first of its kind survey in 2016 to understand and benchmark hand safety performance and improvement trends. A second edition of research was conducted in 2017 to continue to identify emerging trends in safety practices within Australia and New Zealand.

A total of 381 respondents were surveyed as part of the study from 18 October to 20 November 2017. In addition, one-on-one interviews were carried out with 10 representatives from leading companies.  All surveys were conducted with decision makers in worker safety, procurement and operational roles.

In the report, 50% of respondents indicated their company’s overall safety performance has improved since 2016. Organisations are moving away from a top-down approach towards coaching employees to own the implementation of safety practices and establishing more programs for workers to provide feedback.

Despite the overall improvements, 47% of safety managers still say that they worry about worker underreporting of injuries, suggesting that the reported safety performance of many companies is overstated. The main reasons for underreporting are thought to be concerns about blame and punishment, with no clear trend of change.

Engaging workers to influence behavior change is still considered the best strategy to improving worker safety. This is consistent with the 2016 report results. Participants stated the need to involve workers in creating solutions for themselves and their peers.