As the market gets tougher and tenders get more difficult to find, what will set you apart from your competitors?

If health and safety are correctly utilized and implemented. It can work for you in an even greater capacity than just keeping your staff safe and protecting your profits and assets. It may also drive efficiencies via continual improvement throughout your organisation.

Think of your organization as a top athlete. It may be world-class in its field, but it still needs a full-time coach to urge it further and to continually improve. It’s the collection of constant 1% differences that makes the real difference!

More and more companies are building strict HSE criteria into their tender processes. If you are struggling to qualify and are not meeting minimum criteria because you have no demonstrable health and safety management process or documentation in place. Then you are endangering the very existence of your company. The competition will have worked to get ahead of the game in this respect, and they will, unfortunately. Be leaving you behind.

The placing of increased importance on the management of health and safety will not be going away. It will become even more important as businesses navigate the current choppy Covid-19 waters and hopefully soon-to-be post Covid-19 period. Use HSE to stay ahead of the crowd, ensure your company’s survival for the present, and future-proof your organisation for the times to come.

How to Utilize HSE to Attract New Clients:

• For a multitude of reasons, you need to maintain your organisation’s good reputation. This can be done via robust risk management, and the development and implementation of health and safety management processes.
• A strong business reputation is essential to attracting new clients who will want to work with you. The positive image that you enjoy will also reflect on them and their reputation. The Internet contains numerous examples of companies that have made poor supply chain decisions and encountered PR disasters via association. Some of these companies have seen millions of dollars wiped off their share price and future order book. All by not choosing a supplier who effectively managed their HSE.
• You will have worked hard to build a positive and respectable image for your business. It’s vital that your business keeps that good name. Good public relations increase sales and generate more leads. Ensure that your management of health and safety does not change this.
• You may have a business that sells directly to individuals. Members of the public take a dim view of employers that do not look after their workforce. Your reputation and sales strength could be ruined in one incident after carefully building a positive image over many years. With the instant power of social media. When something goes wrong, you can be sure someone has taken a video or photo of it.

How to Utilize HSE to Attain New Clients:

• Even in this ultra competitive age when everyone is looking to be economical. Most reputable local companies, and certainly international ones and government divisions. Are using balanced scorecard systems and giving high weighting to the management of health and safety. You are certainly expected to submit a commercially competitive tender. But not at the expense of HSE.
• Most tenders now ask for proof of the health and safety management system that you are utilizing and will want to view your documentation. Even if it is just to know that you are compliant with local legislation. Such as OSHAD if you are operating in Abu Dhabi.
• More and more companies are asking for proof that you have developed, implemented and hold accredited international systems; such as ISO 45001. Why not future-proof your organisation whilst simultaneously ensuring that you can tender for international contracts by putting this level of the system into place?

How to Utilize HSE to Retain Existing Clients:

• Customers like to deal with the same staff that they know and like. They don’t want to work with companies who have high staff turnover. Stress and accidents at work are two of the biggest causes of absences from the workforce today.
• The mismanagement of HSE, whether it causes short unscheduled or long-term illness, can have a serious impact on your productivity and profits. If workers are having to cover for an absent colleague, it can put additional strain on them, contributing to a knock on effect and increased overall absences in the long term.
• Improving your workforce’s health and safety helps improve morale and productivity in your business. Your workers can do their job with less difficulty and danger.
• When it comes to attracting high quality staff, employees ultimately do not want to work for poor employers with terrible health and safety records.

When things go right:

• Promote the fact that you are utilizing health and safety standards which you adhere to – it’s a strong selling point.
• Promote your organisations HSE statistics showing your workforce and other companies how much you have invested in keeping your employees healthy and safe. That’s a great news story!
• If something has gone wrong in the past, publicise what you did to put it right. Corporate OHS once worked with a client who within a year went from “Notice of Prosecution” to winning an award for “Most Improved Safety Performance”.

If you are looking to develop an HSE management system for your UAE based company, look no further than Corporate OHS. We are a leading safety and health consultancy in the United Arab Emirates and have helped many renowned companies revamp their HSE infrastructure.

Corporate OHS also offers long-term and monthly retainer outsourcing services; an arrangement that provides you with access to top-class HSE expertise and cuts down your labor costs markedly. For inquiries, please visit our website or send an email to enquiries@corporateohs.com.