• Safety professionals should learn to communicate safety needs in the workplace in terms of risk management to help business owners and executives understand the full impact of not managing hazards properly.

Imagine a safety professional asking upper management for a $500,000 investment to keep from getting a $7,000 fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The request is unlikely to be approved. Stating the request in terms of risk management, however, would involve explaining an analysis and prioritizing of risk, along with the financial implications.

Risk is a common language between business owners and executives who manage risk every day. Putting hazards into the language of risk helps executives see the need for managing the identified safety risks or hazards.

Financial implications include suffering operational delays, which directly impacts the number of products a company might produce, for example, and could result in direct consequences.

Unfortunately, many safety professionals haven’t had formal training in risk management, so learning the concepts may take some time. However, it doesn’t have to be daunting, and tools are available to help.