Today, every business is looking for ways to reduce costs and strengthen its bottom line. How do you know you’re looking for savings in the right places? An often overlooked area in the search to reduce costs is safety — specifically, the programs, policies and procedures created by a company to protect its workers. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), implementing and enforcing a safety plan at your business can really pay off.
Four bottom-line benefits to putting safety first
There are a number of tangible and intangible returns you may see when safety is a priority at your business. These include:
- Improved employee morale
- Decreased lost time
- Fewer workplace injuries and illnesses
- Lower insurance costs
Commit, implement, measure, improve and repeat
What you get out of a safety program depends on what you put into it. Don’t simply agree to a program — commit to it. Once you’ve implemented the program and have it up and running — measure its success. Then utilize measures of improvement to alter the plan. Maintaining this process allows your safety program to continuously evolve for the future.
How to gain employee buy-in for your safety program
The key is to gain top-down support from management and bottom-up implementation from employees. The best approach is to make it clear the company believes in the importance of a safety program for the wellbeing of all workers. Amerisure’s risk management experts can help design and implement an effective safety program for your organization.
The Department of Labor recommends the following seven steps to embracing a safety program:
- Make a commitment — put as much energy into safety as you do any other initiative
- Involve employees — actively encourage employee involvement for success
- Identify and control hazards — use checklists, prioritize your findings and make a plan to remedy all hazards
- Comply with regulations — in both the letter and the spirit of the law
- Train employees — to ensure they know how to do their jobs safely
- Support a culture of safety — make your workplace one that fosters trust and wellbeing
- Continually improve your system — regularly evaluate performance and make adjustments
Implementing a safety program is the most tangible action you can take to show employees you value their safety. It’s also a smart business decision — especially if it’s done before a catastrophic event forces your hand.
Talk to one of our partner agencies today to learn more about Amerisure’s resources for developing and implementing a safety program.
