Longworth Blog Advent 2019

In the twelfth of our Christmas Advent Blogs, our SHEQ Manager Melissa Fazackerley asks our Commercial Director Karl Smith the following question –

Why does health and safety make commercial sense for Longworth?

At Longworth, we strive to be the best in the industry and we aim to do this with our people – by recruiting, training and retaining the very best. Fundamental to this is our long term and holistic approach to health, safety and welfare of our people. We aim to go against the misplaced and now archaic approach of project based cost savings in exchange for staff welfare – our business decisions are based on longevity and oftentimes, the unseen cost savings of ensuring that every staff member feels safe and valued in the workplace.

Consider any of the leading studies on staff motivation, morale and retention, and in all studies you will find that safety, hygiene and welfare are actually a core building block of employee satisfaction, and thereby, it follows, output. In fact, not only are safety and welfare found to be important factors, but moreover, it is an accepted premise that high levels of staff motivation and satisfaction simply cannot exist without a safe working environment for them to thrive within.

Personal Experience

As Commercial Director, the longevity of the business and social responsibilities towards the well-being of our staff always take over-riding priority in cost based decisions, even if it appears at face value that some decisions cost us more money on a short term basis – long term decisions reap long term rewards and we’ve all seen how this industry has no grace for short-termism.

Taking a long and holistic term view to health, safety and staff welfare has thankfully enabled us to secure and retain some of the best talent in the country, delivering some of the best jobs for tier one clients in a fantastic working environment. That, to me, makes perfect commercial sense.