IS SAFETY AN EXPENSE OR AN INVESTMENT – PART 2

Recall from Part 1 – Why investing in safety is important for you, your employees, your company.

What may be missing from your safety program or where have you had issues in the past?  Let’s start with your OSHA 300 log for the last year or maybe two years.   Where have injuries occurred and what was the “root cause” of those accidents?  

Was it a lack of training?  Education is never ending.  “I didn’t know” are words that should not be heard on a jobsite or in the workplace.  If we educate through onboarding and new hire training, continued safety training, toolbox talks, safety audits (with coaching), we are now investing in our employee’s education.   Employees must be trained how to use equipment correctly and safely to be successful. When a company provides proper training and the tools necessary. We start to see more hazard recognition and less accidents and injuries.

Are you still looking at safety as an expense or are you starting to see it as an investment?

Educating all workers is key. A positive safety attitude will drive their actions to perform tasks safely and as trained, and ultimately creating a strong safety culture.

The last step in educating employees, is making sure everyone considers safety as part of their job. Everyone, including management and supervisors, is looking for “unsafe conditions” and “unsafe acts”.   When you are investing and continuously working towards your safety goals, you will see unsafe conditions and unsafe acts disappear, as well as less accidents and injuries.

Your investment has a huge return

• Sending your workers home every day the same way they arrived for their day/shift. 
• Providing a safe worksite. 
• Reducing your work comp costs. 
• Being recognized as a safe company. 
• Not having to tell a family that their “loved one” was injured or worse. 

As a result of investing in safety, the overall culture will evolve and the company will start reaping the benefits of their investments. Really it’s an easy choice. 

Check out more information on the importance of workplace safety and profitability at https://oecscomply.com/the-business-case-for-safety/.

For more information on OECS Safety Services call 763-417-9599 or email us at info@oecscomply.com.