While safety certainly isn’t the most exciting aspect of your business for you to invest in, it’s one that will provide high-quality returns every single time, not to mention some much-needed peace of mind.
So long as you are smart about the investments you make, putting money into safety for your business will result in some savings down the road. As an industrial electrician in Raleigh, NC, we’ve certainly found this to be true for ourselves. Here’s an overview of some of the things you should consider.
Injuries can be extremely costly for employers
The more money you put into safety measures at your business, the more you will be able to protect your workers from potential injuries. This is very important, not just for keeping your employees safe, but also for protecting your business from some significant costs.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a fatal workplace injury carries an average cost of just under $1 million—but that only includes hospital costs and doesn’t factor in lawsuits, liability issues and other potential business losses.
But that’s just for fatal injuries. In 2012, the total cost of occupational injuries and deaths was $198.2 billion. Of that, $36.5 billion was in administrative expenses, $55.7 billion in medical costs and a whopping $89.6 billion in wage and productivity losses. An average injury impact for a company will be $1,400 per injury per worker, including the goods or services each worker would have to produce to offset that cost. The cost per medically consulted injury is $39,000, which includes estimated wage losses, medical expenses, employer costs and administrative expenses. When looking at causes of injury, the most common were motor vehicle accidents, slips and falls and burn injuries.
Taking all of this into consideration, it’s plain to see that workplace injuries can have a significant cost on businesses. Beyond it being the right thing to do from a human standpoint to invest in the safety of your workers, it is also the right thing to do from a financial standpoint. While the costs of personal protective equipment, safety training and equipment upgrades/replacements may represent some significant upfront costs in some cases, it is much better to pay for these expenses than to expose your business to the financial liabilities associated with workplace injuries and fatalities.
In addition, you should consider how investments in safety affect your workforce. Workers are much more likely to want to work for a company that values safety and takes it seriously. If it becomes known that you do not put a proper level of investment into the safety of your workers, you are unlikely to receive quality applicants for open positions. Poor investments in workplace safety can be damaging to your company culture and reputation.
Are you interested in learning more about some of the specific investments you should make in safety for your business and how those investments can help you financially in the future? We encourage you to contact the industrial electrical contractors in Raleigh, NC at Box Electric Company with any questions you have. We’d be glad to provide more information about how our own investments in safety have benefited our company and our clients.