The nature of your work and different factors influencing workplace safety have developed rapidly in the last couple of years. Moreover, people responsible for preventing injuries and managing the wellness of employees adopt new strategies and a holistic approach. Many major companies are leading the drive toward a hybrid-work future.
An effective safety program in the hybrid future offers simultaneous support for a workforce between different work environments and multiple locations. Similarly, safety plans must account for an ageing workforce and the rising mental health challenges and stress levels affecting worker morale. Here is a list of workplace safety trends in the future:
Employee Wellness
The hectic schedule of everyday life contributes a lot to the rise in depression and anxiety. Employee’s health care calls have increased with the growing mental illness and work stress awareness. In addition, the worldwide pandemic crisis magnified the requirement for employee safety and wellness initiatives. Many people struggle to create boundaries and avoid burnout while working from home and juggling multiple responsibilities.
Workplace safety wellness trends are more vital than ever. As a result, employees will be more likely to prioritize self-care in the future and invest in programs that spotlight wellness. With work shifts towards remote and hybrid models, the wellness program’s nature will also change. However, companies may provide credits towards home equipment and gym memberships with catered healthy lunches and workout rooms.
Flexible Work Timings
A sudden mass movement to remote work gave many employees the relaxation to pick a working schedule. Since employees do not have to work during regular office hours, they can carve out timings suitable to them. For example, early morning risers and night owls can work during timings they feel most focussed with fewer distractions. This freedom allowed professionals to be more productive and handle other responsibilities.
AI-Augmented Workforce
As per the world economic forum predictions, there will be 97 million new jobs by 2025 due to AI. However, people will also find role changes in their existing jobs, and they will increasingly augment their capabilities using AI. Initially, AI will help to automate repetitive elements in day-to-day jobs and allow employees to focus on fields that need imagination, creativity, and emotional intelligence.
For instance, lawyers will use AI to cut down the time spent in reviewing cases. In contrast, doctors will diagnose a patient’s illness with computer vision capabilities. In retail, store managers can plan inventory with augmented analytics and sales assistants can predict what shoppers are looking for.
Incident Management Documentation
It would be best to emphasize finding and eliminating hazards before any issue arises. So, everyone in the business needs to report the incidents properly and show that there is any need for additional safety measures.
However, all companies do not have consistent and clear incident management procedures. So, finding a partner for straightforward and easy-to-use documentation will make employees’ work easy. After all, you may never know when an incident occurs, and you may have to make the official report.
Conclusion
After various challenging years for employees and the global economy, 2022 holds scope for great growth. As the hybrid human resource becomes a norm, employee health and safety get closely linked to the workforce. Moreover, the concept of safety and wellness will spur the innovation of technology solutions in the future.
