1) Investing in employee safety should be viewed as investing in your business, as it can significantly impact profits if not given adequate attention and resources. Prioritizing safety leads to long-term financial gains and a strong reputation. 2) While safety costs money, the costs of not investing in safety are much greater. A single major injury can lead to six-figure workers' compensation costs and damage a company's reputation. 3) Approaching safety as its own business within a company means assessing safety regularly, investing in continuous improvements, and rewarding progress to create a strong safety culture with engaged employees. This strengthens the entire business.

1. Safety:The BusinessWith-inYourBusiness
By: TylerShannon
Anybusinesspersonunderstandsthatthere are multiple ways togenerate profit fromtheirproduct.
But a piece thatoftengetsoverlookedis the value behind Safety. Safetycandrasticallyinfluence profit
marginif not awardedan appropriate level of attentionandresources. Drivinginvestmentawayfrom
safetyisa short-termgainfora long-termfailure. Investinginsafety asapiece of your businesswill
earnyour companylong-termfinancialprofitsand aworld-classindustryreputationthathelpsdefine
your image asa leaderinthe industry.
Make no mistake, employee safetydoescome ata cost. It’sa cost that if not appreciatedatall levels
can be viewedasjustahole ina ship. Financialsaside,unappreciatedsafetycanleadtomistrust,
undervaluedemployees, butworstof all an injurythataffectssomeone andtheirfamily forever. If you
are readingthis, it’sbecause youcan probably imagine yourfearsof horrificemployee injuriesbeing
realized. Youmay evenbe able topointto one thingthat yoususpectyouremployeesdowhere the
nextmajorinjuryislikelyto occur. Asa leaderyoumustmake a pointto seekoutthe supportof safety
staff and take actionon theiradvice toimprove. Don’tview themas the hall monitors of a rebellious
highschool,viewthemaspartners andalliestowardimprovement.
“Leadingbyexample”issoclique,but reallyisvital whenitcomestosafety. If youcreate the
expectationof asafetydiscussion beforeanyworkisperformed,itwill be the norm. If you,yourself,
stopto thinkaboutthe safetyhazardsof what youdo,so will the employeesaroundyou. If youmake
safetyanunimportantlaughingmatterthatwe have to doto say we did,than be preparedforan injury
that youwon’tbe laughingabout.
The costs of safetycanbe justified withareasonable reflection consideringthe what-if. What-if
somethingdidhappenandwe didn’thave all of thissupportandfocus inplace to preventit...howmuch
wouldthatcost us? That’s business. Inthe end,the commitmenttoneversacrifice safetyisona
leadershipthatunderstandsitstrue value. Youdrive downcost andpreventunexpectedcost by
reducinginjuries.Youmaximize yourreputationwithemployee safetyengagement. That’shiddenprofit.
It’sprofitbecause if youdon’tdo them,itislikelytocome at the expense of great costto yourcompany.
Othercompanieshave learnedthisthe hardway.Youdon’thave to.
Is the businessof safetysimple?No. Nobusinessis. Decisionshave tobe made,budgetshave tobe
kept.Employeeshave tounderstandthatadecisiontosolve safetyhazardsviaadministrative means,as
opposedtoengineering,comeswitharesponsibility andaccountability.Everyfinancialcommitment
that youmake to theirsafetycome at the expense of somethingelse. There isnoendlesssource of
safetyresourcesforanycompany,and there’salwaysmore thanone wayto keepsomeonesafe. Safety
improvementone year,won’tnecessarilyassure improvementthe nextyear. The minute itfeelslike
the safetyculture hasneverbeenstronger,isusuallythe time youmust digevendeepertothe heartof

2. the businesstofindthe latentweaknessesthatyouwantto pretenddon’t exist. It’slikehavinga
successful product onlytomake sure the nextversionistwice asgoodas the first.
Dependingonthe needsof the company, safetycancome at a significantprice. Personnelresponsible
for drivingandmaintainingsafetyacrossthe organization,toolstopreventinjury, personalprotection
equipment,workman’scomppremiums, andoutfittingequipment withsafetydevices (some of which
may have beenbuiltbeforenewsafetyregulationsandexpectationsapplied) are notcheapfor any
business. Butthinkof itthisway,the airtime alone fora 30 secondSuperBowl commercial cost
upwardsof $5 Millionlastyear. Forsome organizationssafetyis adropin the bucketcomparedtoother
spending. A recentorganizationIwasa part of spentovera million dollarsannuallyineachfacilityon
safety. Theydidsobecause itwas easyto lookat the cost of workman’scompensationforaworkforce
where safetywasnot a priority andrealize the potential costtotheirbrandandproducts bynot
committingtothe price of employee safety. Evenatthiscost,theywere no-where nearinvincible to
safetyincidents,buttheircommitmenthelpedsendtheiremployeeshome totheirfamilieseveryday
for the last4 decades. Justone majorinjurycan soar workman’scompensationcostsinto6 figures,and
that assumesnolegal ramificationorcostlyOSHA violationsontopof it. A brokenankle froma slipon
ice couldbe tensof thousandsof dollarsoutof the corporate piggybank and leave anemployee
debilitatedforyears. Nowimagine if thatsame companydidn’tactivelyworkhardtoimprove safety…
OthercompaniesIhave seenhave one SafetySpecialistoverateam of thousandsof employees. What
kindof a message doesitsendtohave one personpreachingsafety,developingprograms,interpreting
policy(and regulations),investigatingincidents,auditingfacilities,coordinatingtrainings,etc? The
message isthatsafetyisnot importantenoughtomake itmore personal. The realityisthatif that
companyspenta bitmore to effectivelyoutfitasafetyteam, theywouldlikelysee theirincidentsand
risksdrop enoughtonot justcoverthat cost, butimprove the moral toward safetyaroundthe facility.
As mygrandpa usedto say, “a dollarsavedisa dollarearned.” Itmightcost more on the balance sheets
to add anotherSafetySpecialist, implementeffectivesafetyculture programs, orincrease the budgetfor
install of newengineeringcontrols; however, doingsotopreventthatone majorinjurythatstresses
your bottom-line,putsyourcompanyinthe headlines,orresultsininvestigationsanddrawnout
explanationstoOSHA and/oryourshareholders,justsimplyisn’tworththe risk. Havingastrongsafety
culture issomethingyoushouldbe proudof. A strong safetyculture thatisvaluedandledfromthe top
down,butappreciatedandechoedateverylevel of anorganization,notonlyprotectsyourcompany
and strengthensyourfoundation,butitcreatesatrust throughemployee groupsthatcanlatchitself
intootherparts of theirbusinessrelationships. Safetyisbusiness. Itisthe businessof investinginthe
safetyof youremployeessothattheycanbe more productive andmore effectivelyengagedinthe
presentandfuture of yourcompany. Itis an investmentthatyoucan aggressivelyincorporate nowwith
the satisfactionthatthe cost comes at the veryleastwitha strongerpeace of mindin the value of
humanlife inyourbusiness.
To reallyinvest,youmustalsoinvestyourself.Youmustbelieve whatyoupreachandact on it.If “Safety
isFirst” or you“Target Zero Injuries”thenyoumustbe willingtoshutdownwhensafetyisthreatened
and showyouremployeesyouwill doityourself. Youmustbe able to lookdeepintothe failure of the
systemtohear thingsthatmaybe most companiesdon’twanttohearin orderto understand the risks

3. that reallyexist. Withrenewedcommitmentsbythe Departmentof Justice andDepartmentof Laborto
seekoutand prosecute employersthatputemployeesinharm’sway,investinginsafetyhasneverbeen
so vital. Poorcompaniesdoitto check a box.Many companiesdoitbecause itisthe right thingto do.
But, greatcompaniestake a “Don’tlookgood;be good”approach that showsreturnontheirinvestment
throughlowerincidentrates,lowerworkman’scompclaims,andincreasedemployee engagement.
Strive tobe good. In fact,strive to be great. AsJohnD. Rockefellersaid,"Don'tbe afraidto give upthe
goodto go for the great.”
Approachsafetyas a businesswith-inyourbusiness. Workharddailyto improve your “safetyproduct”
and believe inthatproduct. Assessitsquality,investin itssuccess,andrewardprogress. Aimto
understandhowthe businessof safetytruly worksandisaffectedby the systemsinplace. Putavalue
on everythingbutassure everyoneisvaluable. Treatemployeesasa safetycustomer inwhichthey’re
alwaysrightand engagedinthe future of safetyatyour facility. If youtreatsafetyas a businesswith-in
your business,bothwill flourish.