All businesses have expenses - the costs of doing business, bills you have to pay to keep things moving.
On the other hand, investments are ways to spend your money that offer a return on what you paid.
The value of investments lies in their ability to earn your money back.
Workplace safety is a continuous investment made up of numerous smaller, distinct parts.
An investment in safety requires direct safety measures.
You also have to commit to education and assessments to build a workplace where every employee understands and is committed to workplace safety.
In 2019, the United States spent $171 billion on workplace injuries. That cost included wage and productivity losses, administrative and medical expenses, and costs to employers after insurance.
A solid workplace safety program can help you reduce your portion of workplace injury costs, giving you a positive return on investment (ROI) for safety programs.
Viewing safety as an investment rather than an expense encourages you to find new ways to help keep your employees safe.
In addition to the obvious benefits of a healthier and safer staff, making a committed investment in safety brings economic benefits, including:
When measuring ROI in environmental health and safety, it's vital to evaluate both direct and indirect costs to understand the full benefits of your investment.
Workplace injuries' most obvious costs are the ones employers pay directly. Reducing or eliminating your direct costs paid for injuries is part of the ROI safety programs offer. These costs can include things like:
Your workplace accident history influences the cost of your workers' compensation insurance. Investing in safety can reduce your accident rate and lead to lower premiums.
Ensuring fewer accidents also allows you to avoid the cost of OSHA penalties and save on equipment repairs, and legal and administrative costs.
While the direct costs of workplace injuries can be considerable, the indirect costs are even more so. Injuries and accidents have a ripple effect on a workplace, generating costs that can reach far beyond the official numbers.
Some of these potential costs can stem from:
Tallying up these indirect costs, it's clear that the price for each injury is far higher than it looks on paper. However, you can help reduce your indirect costs through the ROI safety services provide.
An investment in safety that leads to fewer injuries will also produce:
To calculate the return on investment on your safety program, you first need to gather your direct and indirect costs. You can use the data from your accounting and incident reports to calculate those numbers. If you know your annual workers' compensation cost, profit margin, and a number of injuries, you can also use the OSHA Safety Pays Program to get an estimate.
Once you have your numbers, do the following:
When you choose StrongArm Tech's SafeWork System as your safety platform, our wearable sensors detect and collect essential information about your workers' environment and movement.
These sensors monitor physical and environmental risk factors and alert the wearer if they make a dangerous movement. The data the sensors collect automatically uploads to our risk management software, letting safety managers easily identify areas for improvement.
The SafeWork System gives you hard data to assess risk rather than relying on subjective observations, letting you safeguard your employees' morale and reduce your costs. You can even share it with your insurance underwriter - the Safety Score software calculates your investment in your workers' health and safety may lower your insurance rates.
We consistently deliver an ROI of 250% or higher with our SafeWork System. Get a look at how high yours could be with StrongArm's safety ROI calculator.
At StrongArm Tech, we work closely with you to tailor our safety program to the needs of your workers and managers. We'll help you determine which safety wearable package is best for you and how your safety reports should appear, giving you a scalable safety solution that perfectly fits your facility’s daily routine.
If you're ready to see how SafeWork can help keep your Industrial Athletes™ safer, request a trial today!
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