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Making the Business Case for Safety and Health |
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Highlights |
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The
following items help illustrate why investing in workplace safety and health can
improve your organization’s financial performance.
- "When senior management decision-makers learn that disabling work-related injuries cost this
country nearly $50 billion in direct costs – or about $1 billion a week – it gets their
attention," states Karl Jacobsen, Senior Vice President of Liberty Mutual Group.
Source: 2007 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index. Liberty Mutual
Insurance Company, (2008), 2.2 MB
PDF, 12 pages.
- Companies that did not adequately manage workplace safety and health performed worse
financially than those who did from November 2004 to October 2007. Investors could have
increased their returns during this period had they accounted for workplace safety and health
performance in their investment strategy.
Source: Goldman Sachs JBWere Finds Valuation Links in Workplace Safety and Health Data (2007,
October), 83 KB
PDF, 2 pages.
- Businesses spend $170 billion a year on costs associated
with occupational injuries and illnesses -- expenditures that come straight out
of company profits. However, workplaces that establish safety and health management
systems can reduce their injury and illness costs by 20 to 40 percent. In
today's business environment, these costs can be the difference between
operating in the black and running in the red.
Source: Safety and Health Add Value. OSHA Publication 3180.
Also available as a 200 KB
PDF, 6 pages.
- Injuries and illnesses increase workers' compensation and
retraining costs, absenteeism, and faulty product. They also decrease
productivity, morale, and profits. Businesses operate more efficiently when they
implement effective safety and health management systems. For example, a
plant with 50 employees decreased production of faulty product and saved more
than $265,000 with a strong safety and health program.
Source:
Safety and Health Add Value. OSHA Publication 3180. Also available as a 200
KB PDF,
6 pages.
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There is a direct positive correlation between investment in safety, health, and
environmental performance and its subsequent return on investment.
Source:
White Paper on Return on Safety Investment. American
Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), (2002, June).
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Ninety-five percent of business executives in one survey reported that
investment in workplace safety has a positive impact on a company’s financial
performance. Of these executives, 61 percent believe that their companies
receive a return on investment of $3 or more for every $1 they invest in
workplace safety.
Source: Executive Survey of Workplace Safety. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, (2001).
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A forest products company saved over $1 million in workers’ compensation and other costs from 2001
to 2006 by investing approximately $50,000 in safety improvements and employee training costs. The
company has participated in OSHA's Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) since
1998.
Source: Anthony
Forest Products. OSHA Small Business Success Stories, (2007, February).
- The average worksite in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection
Programs (VPP) has a Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) case rate of 52%
below the average for its industry. Fewer injuries and illnesses mean greater
profits as workers’ compensation premiums and other costs plummet. Entire
industries benefit as VPP sites evolve into models of excellence and influence
practices industry-wide. Source: Voluntary
Protection Programs (VPP). OSHA.
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Some of the companies that participated in an OSHA Strategic Partnership
to address ergonomic issues in foundries in Wisconsin have seen significant
reductions in injury and illness rates. These reductions have led to a decrease
in workers’ compensation claims and associated costs.
Source: Foundry Ergonomics Partnership. OSHA
Strategic Partnership Program Success Stories, (2005,
January).
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An OSHA Strategic Partnership covering construction of a power plant in Wisconsin resulted in injury
and illness rates significantly below the construction industry rates in Wisconsin. In 2006,
employees worked over 1.7 million man hours at the site with zero fatalities. The 2006 Total Case
Incident Rate (TCIR) was 69 percent below the Wisconsin average and the 2006 Days Away, Restricted,
Time Away (DART) rate for the site was 75 percent below the Wisconsin average.
Source:
Weston 4 Power Plant Construction. OSHA Strategic Partnership Program Success Stories, (2007,
February).
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