All employers have a responsibility to provide a safe and secure workplace for their employees. What I hope to provide here is a basic understanding for employers, both large and small, as to what makes up an effective safety program, and why it is so important for the business to have one in place. 

As on the Employee Resources page, I plan to present the information as a series of lessons, each with a specific goal in educating employers about workplace safety. These lessons will appear here for a period of time, and then will be moved to the archive where they can be downloaded. 

It is my hope to help you to create a workable, cost effective safety program for your business. This will not be a "flavor of the month" type program, but practical information you can use to gain employee support and trust, and increase your profits by reducing costs.

First of all let me say this. If you are not going to support your safety program with the appropriate funds, and visible participation, then stop reading right here. Your employees are smart enough to know when lip service is being paid to their safety in favor of maximization of profits. I know that you are trying to run a business, and that safety is not a visible means of making a profit. But, by saving money, in the long run, it will help you to run a better business. This is better for you, and better for your employees. Now, isn't that the right thing to do?

Lesson One: Why is a viable Safety Program important to my business? 

Taking risks is a part of running a business, particularly for small business owners. You take risks in product development, marketing, advertising, and hiring top employees in order to stay competitive. However, some risks are just not worth the gamble. One of these is risking the safety and health of those who work for you.

Let's face it. Accidents cost money. Lots and lots of money. Safety organizations, states, small business owners and major corporations  are all finally realizing that the direct costs of a lost workday injury is only the tip of the iceberg. It has been estimated that for every dollar you spend on the direct costs of a worker's injury or illness, you will spend anywhere from 2 to 17 times more to cover the indirect costs. And these costs come directly from the bottom line, they are not covered by insurance.

Consider what one lost workday injury would cost you in terms of:

• Productive time lost by an injured employee;
• Productive time lost by employees and supervisors attending the accident victim;
• Clean up and start up of operations interrupted by the accident;
• Time to hire or to retrain other individuals to replace the injured worker until his/her return;
• Time and cost for repair or replacement of any damaged equipment or materials;
• Cost of continuing all or part of the employee's wages, in addition to compensation;
• Reduced morale among your employees, and perhaps lower efficiency;
• Increased workers' compensation insurance rates; and
• Cost of completing paperwork generated by the incident
• The possibility of unfavorable publicity.

If you want to reduce the costs and risks associated with workplace injuries and illnesses, you must address safety and health right along with production.

Setting up a viable Safety Program helps you do this. In developing the program, you identify existing and potential hazards, and what has to be done to promote the safety and health of your employees and worksite. You outline policies and procedures to achieve your safety and health goals, and then you live them everyday. 

Where do I begin?

It all starts at the top. If top management (President, CEO, CFO, COO, VPs, etc.) does not place an emphasis on the Safety Program, then Middle Managers and Supervisors won't either.

To begin, implement written safety competencies for management, integrated into their job descriptions. This will ensure that there are no misunderstandings of responsibility, and that safety is taken seriously. 

Next, Human Resources must get into the act, by hiring the most qualified and safety conscience employees they can find. This includes testing for a safety attitude, drug and alcohol screens (both on hire and random), and integrating safety into job descriptions and performance evaluations.

Hire an expert in Occupational Safety and Health, don't dump the responsibility onto a Manager who is already overloaded with other work. They won't be able to put in the time and energy that is really needed to make your program work. It is not fair to your employees, the manager, or your organization. There are many organizations/associations, colleges and universities that provide degrees and certifications in safety. Hire one, and then listen to them. They are trained to help you.

Work with your insurance agent to obtain data on exactly what you are spending in workman's compensation costs. They should be able to help you design modified duty programs and other safety measures to help reduce your costs. However, be aware, they are not interested in, nor will they track, anything they are not responsible for.

Safety Education and training for everyone in your organization is vital. From New Employee Orientation to continuous in-service training. Time spent on it will come back to you in reduced costs, retention of good employees, and a safety record that your competition will not be able to match. Make sure that your managers are training employees on departmental safety issues, and on any new procedures or equipment.

Be on the lookout for a sudden, dramatic drop in reported injuries. It may mean that employees and managers are simply not reporting them. This is the problem with incentive programs. They encourage (in my opinion) the under reporting of workplace injuries. 

There are many "canned" Safety Programs and Plans out there. Some, and I must stress here, some, of these are fine, if they are tailored properly to your workplace, and then properly implemented. They do keep you from re-inventing the wheel. But again, the advice and help of a Safety Professional should be obtained to weed out the unworkable and unnecessary "fluff".

I hope this short lesson has given you some food for thought. And that you return to learn more. Please feel free to email your comments and questions to me. I will try to answer all appropriate email as quickly as possible. 

Thanks for visiting, and if you liked what you saw here, please recommend the site your colleagues. I hope to see you again, soon.