Safety Redefined: Why Modern FMCG Workplaces Need a Holistic Safety Culture

We are experiencing a huge cultural transformation as younger generations come through into the workplace. Elements of behaviour that went on at work 20 or 30 years ago are not acceptable today. Companies require a different way of communicating and the way they handle their people and incidents has become increasingly high profile and visible to the wider world through social media.

That is why every company regardless of its size should already be adopting a positive safety culture in their workplace. Alongside physical safety, psychological and social safety should form a key part of a company’s culture, values and attitudes towards its employees.

An effective safety culture not only helps reduce accidents but can safeguard a company’s brand and reputation. It enhances not only productivity but also quality and innovation, as employees feel empowered to speak up when they are treated with dignity and respect. This environment encourages them to contribute ideas for more effective and efficient work practices, increasing employee confidence and engagement.

It is crucial that companies address both physical and mental safety. While physical safety is essential, equal emphasis should be placed on mental well-being and creating an environment of psychological and social safety.

But so often companies either do not have adequate training, internal competences or appropriate management commitment to influence a positive safety culture. The risks of not adopting one can be hugely detrimental to any organisation. From reputation risk and increased absenteeism to a reduction in productivity and even sanctions, without a safety culture a company could potentially face a significant financial impact.

The three dimensions of safety in the workplace

There are three key aspects of safety that contribute to a healthy workplace. Psychological safety ensures employees feel able to speak up. Social safety means people are treated with dignity and respect, while physical safety keeps people at less risk of injury or accidents.

A psychological safety culture is designed to create an environment where staff feel mentally and emotionally safe to speak up without the fear of adverse consequences. To achieve this, an organisation should welcome an open communication policy, with supportive leaders and easy-to-access feedback loops. Leaders and managers usually need to have training on this aspect as it is not always evident, particularly in a production facility or shopfloor where people may feel less able to air their views for fear of retribution.

Building a working environment where people are treated with respect and dignity is not easy and requires ongoing commitment from leaders and HR professionals. From DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies to ensuring anti-bullying and anti-discrimination practices are adhered to, adopting an effective social safety culture will make an organisation a more attractive place that people want to join and stay part of.

Both psychological and social safety underpin physical safety to create an overall environment where staff can feel safe physically, mentally and socially. While a company could operate with only a physical safety culture, without these three dimensions there could be imbalance which has the potential to negatively impact staff members. For example, physical safety could be addressed with regulations, protocols and compliance such as staff having to wear PPE (personal protective equipment) for certain aspects of their job. But an employee maybe too scared to speak up if they have concerns that the protection measures are not adequate for the job for fear of repercussions such as losing their job. But when employees see that their physical wellbeing is protected and they feel safe to report any concerns or suggest improvements, then mutual trust is built.

An effective physical safety culture helps prevent accidents and injuries in the workplace. It involves not only setting but enforcing health and safety regulations and ensuring regular maintenance of equipment. All of this goes forward improving overall productivity as well as personal job satisfaction.

Removing barriers to an effective safety culture

Over the years, we have unfortunately found that common sense doesn’t always translate to common practice. One incident, one burnout or one unsatisfied employee and the impact on your company can be huge.  Many FMCGs have been slow to adopt a safety culture for many reasons, such as lack of awareness, financial barriers or limited knowledge of how to implement measures effectively. Sometimes leaders have underestimated the risks of the three aspects of safety, often until it’s too late and a serious incident has occurred.

In our experience, organisational barriers and a lack of appropriate training are a leading cause of a poor safety culture, preventing leaders from being able to integrate psychological, social and physical safety aspects into their operations.

Our aim at Tack TMI is to make leaders think more pre-emptively about the behavioural aspects of safety culture, rather than reacting each time there is an incident by simply reviewing or rewriting procedures. We find that the concept of the cultural iceberg helps companies to understand the complexities of visible and invisible cultures within the business.

One of the other valuable tools we adopt is the safety cultural ladder, which we use to audit where a company is currently at, and where they would like to be. It maps the stages towards achieving an effective safety culture, by analysing a company’s attitudes, behaviours and current practices.

The ladder goes from step one where minimal rules are followed in a reactive way, possibly even with a blame culture, through to step five where there is integrated, adaptive and meaningful safety embedded in a positive working environment that provides a role model to industry peers.

Why should you focus on your safety culture

Adopting a strong safety culture will enrich your brand, boost productivity and improve organisational consistency, as well as foster a motivated workforce where your employees feel empowered and valued. It will also help to reduce absenteeism and enhance overall performance. Ultimately, companies will achieve better results across their products and services, employee contributions and financial success. By aligning leadership and addressing talent challenges, your organisations will be able to position itself for sustained growth and future-readiness.