SHARE—an institutional investment consulting firm based in Vancouver—has released a guidance report for investors focused on corporate best practices in health and safety.
The report, Investor Guidance on Occupational Health and Safety in Canada, outlines best practice principles for companies to provide a safe and healthy workplace for employees, including key questions and recommendations for investors to consider when managing health and safety risks in their portfolios.
According to SHARE’s report, more than 300,000 workers suffer injuries serious enough to warrant time off work every year in Canada. Mental health problems cost Canadian businesses approximately $33 billion a year, and stress-related absences cost Canadian employers an estimated $3.5 billion a year. Such losses have serious effects on workers and their families but also on employers, the Canadian economy and by extension, for investors.
“Companies that provide safe and healthy workplaces are also financially safer,” said Sari Sairanen, national health and safety director with the Canadian Auto Workers. “The costs of accidents and workplace illnesses reduces productivity, lowers economic output and resulting investment returns. Paying attention to corporate workplace health and safety is a win-win situation for institutional investors such as pension funds.”