Occupational Safety and Health in Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management has become a point of focus for many organizations today. Logistics networks face increasing demand and complexity, and businesses are investing more in maximizing efficiency. However, these efforts may overlook occupational health and safety in the name of speed and profitability.
Transportation and shipping have the second-largest number of workplace injuries resulting in days away from work of any industry. Supply chains must ensure they don’t sacrifice safety for efficiency as they face increasing pressure from the markets they serve. Here are five ways supply chain managers can improve on-site health and safety.
Increase Data Collection
The first step to improving occupational health and safety is understanding each workplace’s unique risks.
Supply chains can gain this understanding by increasing their data collection practices. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and electronic logs can provide insight into where and how incidents occur, informing more effective mitigation strategies.
Supply chains can feed safety data into artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. These programs consider tens of millions of options in a fraction of a second, highlighting the most effective fixes for prominent safety issues.
Distance Workers from Hazards
Another important step in supply chain health and safety is removing workers from the most hazardous parts of the job. Robots can automate dangerous tasks such as heavy lifting, picking items from high shelves and moving materials.
Proper lifting techniques and frequent breaks can reduce repetitive strain injuries from these processes, but it’s more effective to remove the risk entirely. Automating these tasks can also help workers avoid getting tired. They’ll then be more alert working in other areas with less danger of injury.
