25 Mar Majority of safety leaders plan budget increases as workplace incidents remain high, global survey finds

A vast majority of workplace safety leaders are planning to increase or maintain spending over the next two years, despite persistent levels of work-related incidents worldwide, according to a new global survey.

The report, commissioned by connected safety technology firm Blackline Safety and conducted by independent research company NewtonX, surveyed 200 senior safety and operations professionals from organisations with at least 500 employees. It reveals a continued disconnect between established safety protocols and real-world practices.

Published under the title Keeping People Safe: Global Data on the State of Workplace Safety, the report is described as a first-of-its-kind snapshot of the industry.

With hundreds of millions of workplace injuries and illnesses still occurring each year globally, 95 per cent of safety leaders said they intend to maintain or increase their budgets. At the same time, 97 per cent agreed that workplace safety is fundamental to reliable productivity.

However, the findings reveal ongoing challenges. Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents reported a gap between safety procedures and how they are followed in practice.

“It’s clear from the survey that a majority of experts support a change in safety culture across industries,” said Christine Gillies, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Blackline Safety. “As a result, we’ll see safety increasingly becoming a holistic, enterprise-wide operating system instead of a compliance function, and companies that treat it this way will close the protocol-behavior gap, creating safer and more productive workplaces.”

Gillies pointed to several contributing factors behind the disconnect, including a lack of alignment between people, processes and technology, limited understanding of day-to-day site conditions among those designing protocols, and the introduction of processes that fail to address root causes.

“Three pillars make up a strong safety culture – training and communication, tools and technology, and data and reporting,” Gillies said. “Most organizations have all three, yet few have them working together, which means gaps persist even when investment increases.”

The report also identifies key areas of focus for future investment. Worker training was cited as the top priority by 46 per cent of respondents, followed by workforce engagement (41 per cent), infrastructure improvements to reduce risk (34 per cent), new technology (30 per cent), and internal advocacy to promote the value of safety (29 per cent).

Nearly one third of those surveyed indicated that improving the quality of training – making it relevant, continuous and collaborative – would help build greater trust among workers, rather than simply increasing the volume of training.

While 76 per cent of safety leaders said zero-incident targets remain common, many acknowledged such goals are unrealistic.

Organisations are also investing in a wide range of safety tools, from personal protective equipment and radios to advanced digital technologies. However, only 36 per cent of leaders said workers have a high level of trust in these tools and procedures, although 92 per cent reported at least some degree of trust.

Looking ahead, 65 per cent of respondents expect artificial intelligence-based risk prediction tools to play an increasingly important role. Confidence in AI was strongest in areas such as safety data analytics and reporting (84 per cent), training and simulation (83 per cent), and predictive risk analytics (79 per cent).

Despite this, the report suggests many organisations are not yet fully utilising predictive capabilities. While 73 per cent review incident and near-miss reports, only 33.5 per cent use predictive analytics to forecast and prevent future risks.

Blackline Safety said the findings point to a growing recognition that safety must be embedded across all aspects of business operations, rather than treated as a standalone compliance function.