Key Facts:
- Engineering shows strong safety discipline with clear expectations and low tolerance for shortcuts, with only 9% reporting failed follow-up on incidents
- Digital experience needs improvement, with 17% still using paper-based inductions and only 34% finding safety software easy to use
- Despite paper processes, only 15% of workers report unclear or lengthy safety procedures
- The sector faces the challenge of modernising systems without disrupting existing strong safety culture
- Research suggests successful safety improvements come from reducing friction and automating enforcement rather than adding more tools
Engineering stands out for its disciplined safety behaviour and strong follow-through, yet new research reveals a digital experience that lags behind its cultural maturity.
The Australian Workplace Safety Market Research Report, commissioned by Rapid Global and conducted by Research Without Barriers, surveyed more than 1,000 Australian safety managers, workers and contractors across high-risk industries, including engineering.
Engineering demonstrates some of the strongest safety discipline of any industry. Workers report clear expectations, low tolerance for shortcuts and consistent follow-through, with just 9 per cent saying reported incidents fail to result in corrective actions and the same low number reporting people cutting corners when it comes to safety. Only 15 per cent of workers report their safety processes are unclear or take too long.
However, digital experience lags behind cultural strength. Seventeen per cent of workers still complete inductions using paper-based processes, the highest of any industry, yet only 15 per cent say the check-in process is slow or inconvenient. However, only 34 per cent say safety software is simple to understand and use.
The challenge for engineers is modernisation without disruption. With strong foundations already in place, improving usability, reducing paper in onboarding and upgrading digital workflows offer a clear path to maintaining safety consistency while supporting growth and operational complexity.
Professor Dr Andrew Sharman, a global authority on safety culture and CEO of the International Institute of Leadership & Safety Culture, says the findings reflect a familiar pattern seen repeatedly across global workplaces. "Safety is often well documented, yet not consistently felt by people on the ground," he says. "Bridging the gap between policy and practice is less about systems alone and much more about leadership. Trust is the critical differentiator."
The findings, according to Ezequiel Gonzalez, Head of Revenue at Rapid Global, demonstrate that complexity, rather than intent, increasingly shapes safety risk. "Australia has made significant progress in workplace safety, yet complacency remains," he asserts. "Complex, high-risk environments require more than simply checking boxes. " Technology should not replace human judgement but make it sharper. When systems are easier to use and data is easier to act on, safer outcomes follow."
According to the research, the organisations most likely to improve safety outcomes are not those modernising with the most tools but those reducing friction, automating enforcement, and making safe behaviour the easiest option for day-to-day reality on site.
For engineering leaders, modernising induction and safety software represents an opportunity to scale what already works, improving usability and reducing paperwork without disrupting established safety discipline.
To access the report, please visit: https://rapidglobal.com/lp/au-market-research/
About us:
About Rapid Global
Rapid Global is an Australian AI-powered platform transforming workplace safety and compliance, with more than 7m users worldwide. Trusted by leading global companies, Rapid brings together more than 20 years of industry experience to deliver a smarter, more proactive approach to managing safety. From contractor pre-qualification and online inductions to visitor management, site access control, audits, AI-enabled camera monitoring, and incident reporting, Rapid gives organisations one connected platform to keep people safe and workplaces compliant. https://rapidglobal.com/
