Managing Safety in Workers’ Comp
Originally published in Insurance Journal | May 5, 2025
After more than 25 years of counseling businesses on ways to improve worker safety, Steven Simon, senior risk control manager for Safety National, said the one piece of advice he could offer to any size organization wanting to improve their culture of safety is to be good listeners and coach.
“What really helps drive success around safety is coaching and mentoring,” he told Insurance Journal.
“When you have an environment where you’re coaching and mentoring your employees and you’re giving them feedback, really helping them thrive and excel, you are going to have an all-star employee,” Simon said. That environment keeps employees invested and wanting to excel in their job, he added, and they want to take safety seriously.
He advises businesses to really listen to their employees. “The employees who do the job, they’re closest to the risk, and they should have the most to say about how the job gets done.”
Investing in technology and tools that aim to improve safety is great, but even large investments in those tools do not guarantee improved safety results, he said. Plus, some investments are out of reach for small- and medium-sized businesses, he added.
But if a business prioritizes safety over productivity, and has the right equipment, the right culture, the right people, they will have great results in worker safety, he said. That’s not always an easy thing to do, he added. “Because every organization has to be profitable and make money … but it’s either pay now or pay later.”
“I have seen small businesses, small organizations, be very successful because they prioritize their employees, they invest in their employees, they have the right equipment, they don’t take shortcuts,” he said. “Employees feel that, and so they come to work and they’re productive, and as a result, they get maximum productivity,” he added.
“In the 25 years I’ve been doing risk control, I’ve seen some amazing clients–insureds who have not used safety technology and yet have a phenomenal, fantastic safety program; better than some insureds who are using technology.”
Listen, mentor, coach and support employees, from the top down, he added.