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A strong safety program saves
companies more than $4 for every dollar spent; improves employee morale
By Jim
Stanley President, FDRsafety
With so much
attention being paid to OSHA's enforcement push, it's easy to forget that there
are many other reasons to have a strong safety program, including substantial
cost-savings and employee retention. (Not to mention the most important reason
- protecting your most precious asset, your people.)
A recent research study on the financial impact of safety interviewed 231 corporate financial officers at medium and large
companies. On average, participants said that for every dollar spent on
improving workplace safety, their organizations saved $4.41. Among those
savings: lower insurance premiums, improved productivity, reduced costs of
training new employees and less workplace disruption and downtime.
That same
group was asked to name the top benefits of an effective workplace safety
program. Their answers: - Increased
productivity: 42.5%
-
Reduced
costs: 28.3%
- Improved
employee retention: 7.1%
-
Better
employee morale and job satisfaction: 5.8%
Their
perceptions about the financial costs of accidents are borne out by the 2009 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index. That study estimates that the most disabling
workplace injuries cost industry $53 billion a year.
The
importance that employees place on workplace safety was underscored by a recent
public opinion survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the
University of Chicago. The study found 85 percent of respondents rated
workplace safety regulations as very important to workers. Safety was rated as
more important than the minimum wage, paid sick time or receiving time and a
half for overtime.
What does
this all add up to? It demonstrates that it is smart for companies to take a
proactive approach to safety and install a strong safety program without
waiting for a negative OSHA inspection to force the issue.
Jim Stanley is a former
Vice President for Health and Safety at AK Steel and also served as Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA. Jim can help your company set up a
proactive safety program. He may be contacted at (513) 317-5644 or jstanley@fdrsafety.com.
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Motivating employees to actually use
their safety training
Providing
training on safe working techniques is a vital part of any safety program, but
it is not enough. Many accident investigations find that the workers involved
knew safety procedures, they just didn't follow them. The answer: Motivation.
FDRsafety
CEO Fred Rine can provide that motivation with a rousing presentation for your
company or association meeting. Fred's presentation is based on a world-class safety awareness training program he developed that has been presented to more than 400,000 workers and
managers around the country. The program engages participants on why they
should be safe, not just on the "how" of safety techniques.
Fred has a
deep background in safety, having created and run the safety program at FedEx.
His presentation is interactive and gets listeners' attention with a simple
bottom line: if they behave safely, they get to go home to friends and family.
Among the
organizations who have hosted Fred's presentation: - Walmart
annual management meeting
- Home
Depot annual safety meeting
- Emerson
annual safety meeting
- Federal
Mogul annual management meeting
- Association
for Iron and Steel Technology
- Harsco
Metals annual management conference
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Latest from our blog
Top 10 mistakes companies make with OSHA recordkeeping
One of the most persistent sources of problems we see as safety consultants is
confusion over how to handle OSHA recordkeeping requirements for accidents and
illnesses. At the top of the list: The mistaken belief by employers that if an
injured worker can still perform useful work, the injury need not be recorded
as a work restriction.
Piling it on: A review of recent OSHA penalties that were north of $100,000
OSHA's recent proposal of $16.6 million in
penalties in a deadly explosion at a Kleen Energy Systems construction site in
Connecticut drew a lot of attention. Less noticed, but in a way equally
significant, were the day-in, day-out announcements of penalties in other cases
that exceeded $100,000. A survey found 27 recent such cases.
To
keep up with the latest news about increased OSHA enforcement, subscribe to this blog and have
it sent automatically to your Reader or email box.
Scary photos show logging truck hooked to 7.2 kv primary line
Knowing safety procedures is one thing. Using
them is another. This blog post features
some
scary photos that show what
happened when a logger who tried to throw a hook over a pile of logs on a truck
ended up hooking a 7.2 kv electrical line instead.
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you would like to receive it regularly
Join Our Mailing List
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Visit our site!
www.FDRsafety.com
FDRsafety
278 Franklin Road
Brentwood, Tennessee 37027888-755-8010
info@FDRsafety.com
Our services include:OSHA compliance consultation Safety staffingTraining Industrial hygieneExpert witnessesMotivational speakers
ABOUT FDRsafetyAt the heart of FDRsafety is this simple idea: Extensive expertise and experience bring the best results. FDRsafety is led by two nationally recognized, long-time leaders in safety: Fred Rine and Jim Stanley. Each has decades of experience improving occupational safety and health performance at companies of all sizes, including complex multi-billion dollar, multinational organizations. FDRsafety can meet your needs for a wide range of safety and health services, including training, OSHA compliance, safety staffing and expert witnesses. Contact us to learn how we can help you reduce accidents, meet federal, state and local legal requirements, reduce costs, and most importantly, protect your greatest assets - your employees.
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