Research purpose. The aim of the research is to demonstrate the impacts of an absence of organizational policies and strategies in the field of work security on enterprise competitiveness. The movement of loads in the warehouses of industrial and distribution companies is critical in optimizing the times of availability of products to market. This is an activity that, in the field of management, appears to be simple and not very complex, duly framed by national and international laws. However, when poorly managed, it can express significant costs that affect competitiveness and even significantly affect the operational functioning of companies. Knowing that the safety of cargo handling by different equipment presupposes rules and safety policies at different levels, the present study aims to demonstrate the economic impacts based on a real situation in one of the largest handling equipment companies in Portugal.
Design / Methodology / Approach. Given the nature and objectives of the study, which seeks to demonstrate that the work security rules and policies compliance or non-compliance has benefits or costs and affects the competitiveness of economic organizations, the work was developed based on three phases. The first phase focused on direct observation of safety practices in operational activities. After this observation, in a second phase, we proceeded to collect and analyze existing data in the company under study, referring to the number of work accidents recorded in the past. In the last phase, we sought to understand and justify the results with the company’s top management. This last phase provided the understanding of the administrators’ view on the subject and the confrontation with the associated impacts, not only at the financial level but at the level of the company’s operation.
Findings. This study made it possible to show the impact (associated costs) on organizational performance and that this reality, unfortunately, is not often part of top management’s concern. As a management issue that is often relegated to middle management, this study demonstrates the frequent failure to comply with safety rules due to the pressure of daily activities, the increased number of accidents with the personnel growing in the company, and that this situation can be enhanced through the low degree of control by the enterprise top management over the existing reality. With this concrete study, it was possible to verify the weak relevance of the topic for the company’s administration and the assumption of the difficulty in regularizing the existing situation. The need to review management practices and models in this field became evident.
Originality / Value / Practical implications. The relevance of this study made it possible to point out to the top management administration that, in terms of competitiveness. However, the direct costs of the operation are relevant; there are indirect and opportunity costs, such as accidents or unavailability of equipment, which represent costs that can compromise the competitiveness of the company. This study also had the advantage of providing management with evidence of the existing reality in the company, which tends to be undervalued or go unnoticed in the day-to-day company’s current activities. In addition, it should also be noted that a proposal for an improvement plan for the company’s safety was made available.
