The individuals who participated were among the most-informed working in the field at the time. A number of highlights from the many rich insights featured in the study report:

• Ninety-two percent of H&S function leaders believe that the expectations of all stakeholder groups on H&S will ratchet up in the next three years, with most seeing increased impact on business performance. Regulatory drivers, the growing importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, investor pressure, intense focus on H&S during the global pandemic and increasing societal expectations are underpinning these shifts.
• Tolerance of risk has declined in most organizations over the last 2 years. Although 78% of organizations reported improvements in performance, 60% reported fatalities since 2018, and 28% reported multiple fatalities in the last two years, a deterioration in performance on fatalities since 2018.
• The global pandemic has shed light on the changing nature and scale of challenges in H&S, and it has provided insights on a number of blind spots to the function leaders, including the need to better account for the health aspects of H&S. Mental health (already a growing concern pre-COVID) was identified as an increasing concern by 90% of the respondents. Insights shared by the respondents suggest a near-systemic failure in addressing what is a rapidly escalating issue for human health and well-being in the workplace. The function leaders also reported persistent challenges with contractor safety performance. The increasing use of contractors, an established trend for many years, will continue for many, but not all organizations, for the foreseeable future.
• Many organizations are focused on putting the "why" back into health & safety - part of a broader shift in approaches to health and safety that occurred over the past two years. Nine different "evolved approaches" to H&S were identified by the function leaders. These evolved approaches are delivering results. The application of data and technology in H&S have also become core elements in the toolbox of H&S functions and operational teams as they strive to improve their H&S performance and increase operational efficiency. Ninety-two percent of interviewees said their investments in software and technology met or exceeded their expectations.

Changing stakeholder expectations, the uptake of evolved approaches in H&S, together with new challenges and opportunities arising from responses to the global pandemic are stretching H&S functions. Only 4% of the respondents said their H&S professionals are “fully equipped” to address the changing needs of their stakeholders in the new operating environment.

Senior leaders are engaging more on H&S and a new generation of senior executives who see a clear link between H&S, a thriving workforce and business performance are leading the way in transforming the extent and quality of engagement on H&S in their organizations. Increased leadership engagement was positively correlated with increased risk aversion and higher levels of investment in H&S.

Growth of investment in H&S of 21% over the last 2 years will moderate to 17% for period 2020 to 2023. Areas of growing concern such as mental health and occupational exposure to chemicals will be targeted, and companies will deploy resources to access the benefits of new technologies. There is a robust case for each of the investment priorities identified by the function leaders. The challenge for the function and for whole organizations lies in ensuring that each of these investments yield the full scale of the benefits that they promise and that organizations and their people need.

The ERM study team included more than 50 partners and principal consultants.

Read the report.