Spend money on safety resources, not on paying fines
The insurance sector has estimated double returns on every dollar a company invests into its safety program. So, what could your company do with a million dollars? With this kind of safety budget, many improvements to the safety program can occur.
In June 2021, a roofing contractor was issued a $1.2 million fine by a state-OSHA agency for failing to provide adequate fall protection to its workers. In this case, the fine was a combination of multiple willful safety violations.
There isn’t any amount of money that would be enough to compensate a family for the lost life of their loved one—some things are simply priceless. But, in the case above, even if the employer manages to reduce its OSHA fine, any amount paid is money that could improve protections for the workers.
Insurance agencies assign monetary values to lost body parts and lives. In most states, this can amount to thousands of dollars for a lost body part and tens of thousands of dollars for the loss of life. There isn’t any amount of money that is worth losing any of these two things.
I’ve often found it an “uphill battle” trying to sell safety to operations. When this happens, make sure you document your efforts and the responses you get. You never know when you might need to refer to your notes.
If you have a goldfish memory like I do, you’ll be happy you made notes and have specific times, dates, names, and references.
Here are four tips you can use to sell safety to operations:
- Stop using big words like “return on investment” or “2:1 ratio.” If you do, you’ll risk losing operation managers’ attention when you start speaking. Instead, use basic, easy-to-understand words.
- Help your operation managers save money. Not only does saving money sound suitable to their budgets, but saving money is commonly a factor in determining bonuses. Start the conversation with how the safety investment will save the company money in the long run. Talk about how the safety investment may prevent paying for direct and indirect costs associated with an incident or injury if one occurs.
- Find free money and help offset initial investment costs. Many state-OSHA programs offer grants for employers to invest in safety resources for their workplace. Even if there aren’t grants available, talk to vendor sales representatives and get several bids to find the best deals and discounts before speaking to operations about costs. If you “kind of know” how much the safety resource(s) will cost, operation managers are less likely to act in your favor. Instead, you might end up with a homework assignment to go and find better deals, and the issue may end up on the “to do” list—meaning you might not get what you need.
- Stop selling and talking once your safety initiative is approved. I’ve known a few safety managers (including myself, unfortunately) that have managed to turn a “yes” into a “no.” So, this one is straight from my own experiences. If it’s approved, stop selling. The best deal is “the one you have in hand.”
A million dollars can buy many safety resources. For example, as was in the case above, the employer could use the million dollars to pay for fall protection equipment. However, they’ll still need to buy the fall protection equipment, in addition to paying the OSHA fine. So, the safety equipment just became a million bucks more expensive!