Rave Mobile Safety had published the results of its yearly survey of workplace safety and preparedness performed early this 2020. The report looks at the emergency preparedness levels in medical care and other industries all across the United States. It must be factored in that the survey was performed before the announcement of the COVID-19 public health crisis, which most likely caused a switch in priorities in numerous companies.
Workplace Security in 2020
The coronavirus pandemic set off the necessity of effective communication at the time of emergencies, nonetheless, the survey shows other vital reasons for bettering security and communication in the work environment. The last time the study was performed in 2019, 26 participants reported cases of violence in the work environment. This year, the employees who came across violence in their workplace has increased two times.
The survey unveiled that workers are now more mindful of safety. 58% of survey respondents stated they would file a safety problem report on the job regardless of whether it may be accomplished anonymously or not; however, 41% of Gen Z and millennials will only report safety problems if it is completed anonymously. This implies that 18-29-year olds are scared that voicing safety problems will have adverse consequences.
Though most employers have created emergency options, most aren’t doing drills. For example, 76% of firms have emergency programs for extreme weather occurrences, however, only 40% carried out drills to rehearse their reaction in case there is an event, though 48% of survey participants said they had an extreme weather situation last year. Many organizations have designed emergency blueprints for cyberattacks, yet 51% of survey participants mentioned drills were not done to check those options. About 30% of employees were not sure or uninformed regarding their employer’s emergency programs. The least aware were the 18-29-year old employees.
Emergency Communications
The selection of methods utilized to converse with employees in emergency events has gone up in 2020. Email is still the most often used way of communication and 63% of companies utilize it to communicate critical advice, yet communication options like mass texting have increased in popularity. Mass SMS is nowadays utilized by 42% of businesses represented in the annual survey, though many continue to count on obsolete communication techniques including in-person press releases, which don’t include remote employees.
The survey revealed that employers typically adhere to dated communication procedures, even if employees would opt to get notifications concerning safety and security utilizing a faster and quickly accessible system, for instance mass texting.
Emergency Communication in the Medical Industry
The survey showed a considerable proportion of healthcare employees were uninformed of emergency programs for cases including system breakdowns (22%) and active shooters (16%). The moment there are emergency events, email was the most prevalent means of correspondence, utilized by 65% of healthcare companies. Intercom systems were likewise often used (50%) coupled with in-person press releases (44%). Even though these might be valuable onsite, they’re not efficient for conversing with remote employees, who would choose to accept notifications by means of text message, however, just 41% of healthcare providers are utilizing mass text notifications in crisis events. The survey likewise showed breaks in security practices, with 80% of healthcare staff not expected to carry out a security check-in when doing work off-site.
The complete findings of the Annual Workplace Safety and Preparedness Study can be viewed on this page.
