On average, there are nearly 4 million nonfatal workplace injuries every year, with more than 1 million resulting in lost workdays. Effective safety training can reduce injuries and illness, improve morale, and lower insurance costs.
Safety training is one of those areas where shaving service or quality can have a seriously negative impact. For one thing, training your workers is your duty under the law. And whether you’re regulated by OSHA, MSHA, DOT, EPA, or state and local entities, the results of noncompliance can be significant.
What’s more, not keeping up with a regular safety training schedule exposes employees to risk without giving them the tools they need to identify and avoid hazards.
Then there’s the cost. The price of a serious accident can make the most ambitious training budget look like pocket change. Depending on how you’re insured, those costs can come directly out of your profits, or they can result in a nasty spike in your workers’ comp rates. Either way, you lose.
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Four Good Reasons
1. Safety training lowers risk. Safety training prevents accidents. Well-trained employees and supervisors understand workplace hazards and the precautions that must be taken to prevent accidents. They know the proper procedures for every job. They know how to use equipment safely. They know how to prevent back injuries and harmful exposures to chemicals. They know which PPE is required for each job and how to use it safely. They know what to do in an emergency. They are always aware, alert, and proactive.
2. Safety training reduces costs and increases profits. Employee injuries not only cost employees in pain and suffering, but they cost the company in dollars and cents. It’s been estimated that workplace injuries cost U.S. employers as much as $150 billion a year. Workers’ compensation costs have risen an average of 50 percent nationwide in recent years. In one recent year, combined OSHA and state fines for violations of safety regulations totaled over $150 million. No doubt you can get the cost figures for your company. They won’t be in the billions or even in the millions. But they are likely to be in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, every year.
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3. Safety training maintains productivity. When employees have work-related injuries and illnesses, they may miss workdays. When workers are off the job, productivity suffers. Sometimes workers are disabled for weeks or months. You may have to hire temps or full-time replacements. Either way, you have to find and train the right people. In the meantime, down goes production—or you have to spend a lot of money on expensive overtime.
4. Safety training lowers compliance risk. Safety training improves regulatory compliance. Employees and supervisors who are trained to understand the requirements of government regulations help ensure that your company is always in compliance. Should inspectors show up at your door, you’ll be ready for them, and you’ll avoid costly fines and bad publicity.
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