Understanding the Role of a Workplace Safety Consultant

Safety is one of the most important investments you’ll make in your workplace. After all, it’s what protects your most important asset – your employees.

That said, safety is often taken for granted. It’s something we deal with every day, so it’s easy to think that we know our way around it. The problem, of course, is that you can’t always see your whole safety program objectively if you’re standing in the middle of it, in much the same way you can’t see the entirety of Manhattan if you’re standing in Times Square.

This is where a workplace safety consultant can help you take a step back, look long and hard at your safety program, and make realistic decisions to improve. Here’s what a workplace safety consultant does and why they can benefit your EHS program.

What is a Workplace Safety Consultant?

A workplace safety consultant is a safety professional who provides expertise on safety-related regulations, procedures, and best practices. Think of them as an objective third party who can tell you where you need to improve and where you could do better, kind of like an expert on call.

This is a tremendously important role for businesses, as it gives you a rare but vital opportunity to assess your safety program through someone else’s eyes. That way, you can make improvements and strengthen your safety culture–before OSHA comes knocking or a major incident occurs.

What Does a Workplace Safety Consultant Do?

The duties of a workplace safety consultant vary depending on what they do for your specific company. Some safety consultants work directly with construction job sites, while others may work with offices.

Broadly speaking, a safety consultant’s duties include:

• Evaluate workplace safety practices, procedures, and performance
• Provide safety training
• Develop safety manuals
• Identify safety issues
• Investigate incidents

As you can see, a consultant can come in at varying stages of the safety process. They may help you do preventative work by evaluating your current practices and offering training to improve them. Or they could help you handle a safety issue by investigating what went wrong and help you train your employees to avoid similar incidents in the future.

What are the Benefits of Hiring a Workplace Safety Consultant?

The benefits of hiring a workplace safety consultant cannot be overstated, no matter the size of your business.

For small businesses with limited resources, a safety consultant can help you use your resources as efficiently as possible. For large corporations with a large collection of safety resources, a safety consultant can help evaluate whether you’re using those resources as effectively as possible.

Above all, a workplace safety consultant helps you notice the small details that you might overlook. They can help you get out of the “good enough” mindset and into a productive safety mindset that drives compliance. Even if you have an in-house EHS team, a safety consultant can help them assess their own performance and do better in the future.

Let’s Take Charge of Safety in Your Workplace

To put it simply, a workplace safety consultant helps you take charge of safety in your workplace. Our job is what comes next – taking those safety recommendations and putting them into action, with safety management software that consolidates your workspace to one easy-to-use dashboard.

Let’s turn safety into your strength. Get in touch today to learn how our software can help your team improve.