In recent years, Australia has witnessed a significant increase in the demand for health and safety professionals. The ever-evolving regulatory landscape, heightened awareness of workplace safety, and a growing emphasis on employee wellbeing have all contributed to this surge in demand. Businesses across various industries are recognizing the need to invest in health and safety, not just as a legal requirement but as a crucial aspect of their corporate culture. As this demand continues to grow, businesses are exploring innovative solutions like Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) to meet their safety professional needs efficiently.
According to The Safe Step‘s HSE job market report, demand in HSE somewhat stabilised but still at a records high as of the second half of 2023. Demand for workplace health and safety professionals hit an all-time high in May and in July was 7.8% higher, year-on year.
To meet the growing demand for health and safety professionals, businesses may explore alternative solutions such as outsourcing health and safety services to industry known organisations such as FEFO Consulting who can provide expert advice on matters of health, safety, environment and wellbeing.
Let’s take a look on what might be the factors behind the increasing demand for BPO in Australia:
- Record-high Demand for HSE professionals: The demand for HSE professionals is still climbing. This growth trend, although somewhat stabilised, still continues to rise by the country’s commitment to workplace safety and environmental protection. Various industries, from construction to mining and healthcare, require professionals to ensure compliance with safety standards.
- A Shift Away from the Big 4 Accounting Firms: One significant catalyst for the growth of BPO is the reputational damage inflicted on the broader external consulting sector by the Big 4 accounting firms. This damage has prompted many businesses to explore alternative solutions such as outsourcing. Smaller consulting firms and BPO providers have emerged as trusted alternatives, leading to a surge in demand for their services.
Industry Leading Practices
Within the safety industry, outsourcing risk, safety and wellbeing services is becoming an effective alternative for many organisations due to skill shortages, technology enabling access to external talent, and the increasing level of acceptance to work remotely “on demand”.
FEFO Consulting continues to partner with a diverse range of organisations across Australia and New Zealand to deliver exceptional health and safety solutions. Our BPO experience includes large scale retained services across a range of industries and disciplines, e.g. labour-hire, events & leisure, and heavy industrial equipment.
- Assurance – Independent recurring assessments
- Incident Response – “On call” and available to support incident response and critical incident investigations
- Risk Assessments – Large volume, transactional work
- Workshop & Training – Facilitation and training sessions.
Tips for Outsourcing
Here are a few tips when outsourcing health and safety activity:
- Strategy – Be clear on your strategic choices to improve health & safety activity.
- Segment Work – Group work into segments, e.g. strategy & innovation, core business, transaction processes, independent verifications.
- Resourcing – Evaluate resourcing options based on capacity and capability now and in the future. Be clear on your selection criteria, e,g., share values, capacity and capability fit.
- Measure Success – Be clear on how you will measure and know your resourcing choices are successful and celebrate success!
Resourcing with FEFO
Is your current risk, health and safety resource model effective? Could you benefit from outsourcing Health and Safety?
FEFO Consulting is proud to deliver innovative solutions and effective outcomes.
Contact us to discuss your needs and how we may be able to help.
