Investing in Occupational Safety can Make you Save Money, Find out How!

safety training

Workplace injury, illness, and death cost the American employer (and taxpayer) more than $170 billion a year. According to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor, there were 4,690 work-related deaths in 2010, the second-lowest number since records have been kept in 1992. Investing in occupational safety training can save you money.

However, there were over 3 million non-fatal work-related accidents and incidents and there were almost 1 million workdays lost.

The three most common workplace accidents have all shown a reduction in recent years: Highway incidents, which are the most common cause of fatal occupational injuries, have gone down to 1,044 in 2010.

Workplace homicides have been reducing by 50%, to 518 in 2010.

Falls and being struck by an object have gone down as well in recent years according to the American Bureau of Labor Statistics. So did the cases involving sprains, strains, and tears.

Costs You Can Have Without Safety Training

The cost of a company has to endure when faced with workplace accidents is twofold:

Direct costs are the medical expenses and indemnity payments to the injured.

Indirect costs are the loss of production time from the injured employee, other workers, and supervisors dealing with paperwork related to the accident. Spoiled products, unhappy customers, and schedule delays can also be caused by an absent employee. Replacing and training new employees, legal fees and an increase in insurance costs are the other indirect costs. Workplace injuries also decrease morale and affect profits.

Most business owners are careful to ensure themselves against burglary, fire or theft, but neglect to ensure that their business is safe from the inside out.

Why investing in occupational safety?

Why does investing in occupational safety can make you save money?

  • Occupational safety training and implementations don’t cost much when compared with one occupational accident, incident or fatality.
  • According to statistics, workplace injuries account for about 6-9% of project costs. An effective health and safety program will reduce that cost to about 2.5%
  • The higher the safety, the less are the injuries and fewer work days wasted.
  • The cost of insurance goes up with every work-related injury. Better safety will reduce that cost.
  • Legal fees as a result of a work-related injury and arbitration are much higher than the cost of safety training.

Here is some more food for thought:

A study estimates that for every $1 invested in safety, $4-6 can be saved when injuries and illnesses decline. Worker’s compensation costs go down as well. Most corporations have come to understand it and implement safety training, safety classes, ensuring proper signage, markings, and more, to prevent the possibility of work-related incidents and expensive legal claims.