Ensure Workplace Safety and Health (WSH)

Cost
LOW
Cost
MEDIUM
Cost
HIGH
EFFORT
low
EFFORT
medium
EFFORT
HIGH
IMPACT
low
IMPACT
MEDIUM
IMPACT
HIGH

Lack of WSH stewardship and good practices can lead to injuries and fatalities, especially in high risk industries such as construction. You can refer to the WSH Act in Singapore which applies to ALL workplaces and spells out the key responsibilities of various stakeholders (including employers, occupiers and employees).

Ensure a work-life balance by respecting working hours, not overlapping personal life. You can also define some internal rules, in involving your employees to agree on meetings length, use of video, no-meeting day... As they define what works best for them, you increase your chances the rules are adopted and spread across your company. Some ideas:

  • Plan 25 mns or 55 mns meetings, come with a precise agenda, only involve people you need in the meeting.
  • Say it is ok not to always put your video on (as long as participants remain focused on the meeting).
  • Once a week, work towards a no-meeting day so people can focus on work that requires some focus or just simply take a break without having to be in front of their screen all day (for example, walking allows us to be more creative, so ultimately you give a service to your employees but also to your company).
  • Communicate that no email should be sent during week-ends or late at night. You can add at the bottom of your email the following, to remove some of the pressure of immediate response outside working hours: "Whilst it suits me to email now, I do not expect a response or action outside of your own working hours".

Depending on your industry, health at work can be an important area of focus, would it be to prevent accidents, develop ergonomy of your work stations, ensure you have the right luminosity,... Some companies can help you to conduct an audit of your security and propose some actions.

2 to 3 times

more costly to deal with presenteeism (poor employee productivity due to poor health) than to directly handling health care expenses

(Wellsteps)

30%

or less of workforce feels their company cares about employees' wellbeing.

(Gallup)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES