When an electrical incident takes place, there are a large number of internal consequences. The employees are affected, as well as the company can take a financial hit. The ramifications of an electrical incident continues beyond the walls of the organization, however, and also alter community perceptions of the business. 

Public perception can make or break a brand. The local or global community your business operates in becomes your customers, your stakeholders, your investors, and your employees. This means that the public perception of your organization will directly affect hiring, financials, community goodwill, and employee engagement. When an electrical incident occurs, community perception of your organization can be affected, especially if the incident results in serious injury or a fatality. If the incident is viewed as having been avoidable, this negative influence on your organization’s image will only increase.

When an electrical incident results in a fatality, there is also community grief. Since the death occurred while the individual was at work, this can cause your organization to become the “villain” in community eyes. If your other employees are also part of the community, this can affect their own experience at work, and lead to poorer morale and lower job satisfaction. 

When a company’s incident becomes public knowledge, this can further exacerbate the negative impact to the public’s perception of your organization. Bad press can come out of the incident, as well as court proceedings, such as for this Australian company. News like this has the ability to drive away customers, new hires, or other stakeholders. This incident in Cincinnati, Ohio that resulted in an employee’s death also became a subject of news headlines. And the press surrounding an incident can continue for months or more, as demonstrated by this second article, published over 6 months after the Cincinnati fatality occurred. Continued publication of the incident further drives down the community perception of the organization involved. 

If the electrical incident has repercussions for the local community, such as the power outage caused by this incident in Coffee Country, Tennessee that left 2 employees injured and thousands without power, this can make the incident even more personal. Not only did this electrical incident become news, but it also directly impacted many individuals in the community. Even though not many may have known about the incident otherwise, thousands of customers became acutely aware and affected by it when it led to the large power outage. When someone is inconvenienced by an incident, this can change their perception of an organization, which in turn can influence buying decisions.

In order to help avoid electrical safety incidents it is important to create a robust safety plan in advance. Following the Hierarchy of Hazard Control can be a very helpful way to ensure you are creating a plan that is efficient and effective. Many electrical incidents can be avoided, and by avoiding them your company and your employees will benefit. As reviewed over the previous posts, incidents in the workplace can have many different consequences, including impact to employees, impact to company financials, and the impact to community perceptions. 

Putting the time and money into protecting your employees before an incident occurs is incredibly important. Although you may never fully quality the results, the value of keeping your employees and your business safe will always outweigh the costs of an electrical incident.