Employers pay as much as $1 billion per week for direct workers’ compensation costs.  Direct costs include workers’ comp payments, medical expenses, and legal fees. That is reason enough to make worker health and safety a priority. Add to that the cost of replacing employees and equipment, lost productivity, accident investigations, morale, and absenteeism and you can see how safe, healthy workers can improve company profits.

In addition to cost reduction, trust is another profitable reason to invest in worker health and safety.  Responsible companies with a solid safety record are more likely to have a favorable brand reputation to keep them growing and attracting top talent.  In a Deloitte 2014 survey, 87% of executives rated reputation risk as more important than other strategic risks.

Here are a few more convincing facts to illustrate how safe, healthy workers improve profits:

• Each prevented lost-time injury or illness saves $37,000, and each avoided occupational fatality saves $1,390,000
• When reviewing stocks, investors often use workplace safety and health measures because of the potential for higher returns
• Over 60% of CFOs reported that each $1 invested in injury prevention returned $2 or more, and over 40% said productivity was the greatest benefit of an effective workplace safety program
• The total cost of work injuries in 2018 was 170.8 billion dollars
• OSHA continues to seek six-figure and even seven-figure penalties for serious workplace safety violations

Though the rate of workplace injuries and illnesses for Ohio continues to be lower than the national average, in the most recent report, manufacturing and warehousing were two of the industry sectors with Ohio’s highest incidence rates. Have some tips to share? We’d love your comments.

Resources:

Plant Engineering Five Best Practices for Plant Safety in 2020
American Society of Safety Professionals ROI of Safety
The Business Case for Investment in Safety
Latest Ohio BWC News and Events
Injury Facts from the National Safety Council