Imagine a world where work safety information is just as accessible and clear as restaurant food safety ratings. That's the vision behind the Work Safety Index (WSI). We are dedicated to making safety data accessible and easy for everyone to understand.
That’s not the case currently. Work safety information is obscure, laden with jargon, and difficult to aggregate. This is odd given how important it. The explanation for this bizarre state of affairs lies in the system's design. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the government body responsible for workplace safety, gathers data per "establishment" - a term used to define a facility or a distinct building within a company.
These establishments maintain logs that document their safety information, but there's a catch: these logs don't represent the safety performance of the entire organization. They're like puzzle pieces, each holding valuable data, but they're scattered, not giving us the whole picture.
Enter SafetyScores. Our aim at the WSI is to assemble these pieces and provide that comprehensive view of a company's safety performance. We gather data from all the establishments within an organization, weigh them, use some fancy forecasting, and come up with a score. This score reflects not just the organization's safety performance, but also how it fares compared to others in the same industry.
A SafetyScore doesn't just provide a snapshot of an organization's safety record, it also indicates the effectiveness of the company's safety program, the resources allocated towards safety, and the trends in safety performance within the organization.
Think of SafetyScores as a standardized rating system that can be applied to any organization, regardless of its size or industry. Scores take into account factors like incident rates, citations, and compliance. They offer an at-a-glance view of a company's safety practices and allow for easy comparison with industry standards and peers.
Every organization and location profile on our platform features its SafetyScore prominently, and it's continually updated as new safety information is added. The intention is to make the SafetyScore a reliable reflection of a company’s safety performance at all times.
SafetyScores can be a potent tool for organizations, allowing them to identify areas for improvement, benchmark their safety measures against industry standards or competitors, boost their public image, and foster a culture of safety and accountability.
Improving a SafetyScore takes commitment and a continuous desire for improvement. Regular safety audits, comprehensive safety training, effective hazard control measures, and clear reporting and communication channels will benefit organizations with better safety outcomes that will lead to a higher score.
To summarize, SafetyScores are much more than just a number. They represent a tangible, objective way to evaluate an organization's safety performance, providing the complete picture that's been missing from establishment-based performance metrics. With SafetyScores, we're taking a step towards a safer, more accountable work environment.