When you mention safety, some managers think how much will it cost? My company can’t afford it. This article will change your mind. It will discuss the true costs/benefits of a safety program. Costs are lower than you imagine, while benefits are many. To begin, we “ALL” agree safety is a good thing! Advantages of a good safety program are far reaching.

A real life experience. I worked for a company whose workman’s comp claims were in excess of 10 claims per year for the past six years. When I started with this company, it was in the spring and they already incurred five accidents, which included a total of 181 days of lost time that additional workers needed to cover for the employees that were unable to work. The cost to our workman’s comp provider was $390,000. The company had been labeled “extreme high risk,” which translated to high premiums. With some very simple changes, along with employee and management involvement, we were able to prove our risk factor should be lowered, and it was. Because of our reduced risk, our new reduced insurance rates more than paid for all the expenses of bringing the facility to high safety standards.