Business Case for Safety and Health

The following resources on the business case for safety and health are broken out by industry and safety and health topic.

Building a Safety Culture: Improving Safety and Health Management in the Construction Industry. Dodge Data and Analytics, CPWR, and United Rentals, (2016). Includes a section on the impact of safety practices and programs on business factors, such as budget, schedule, return on investment, and injury rates.
Workers' Compensation Costs of Falls in Construction. OSHA, (2012). Study shows that the average workers' compensation claims costs for falls by roofers and carpenters are most costly than other falls.
The Great American Ballpark. OSHA and Abbott Case Study, (February 2005). Communicates the business value and competitive advantages of an effective safety and health program.
Design for Construction Safety. Developed with input from the OSHA Alliance Program Construction Roundtable and maintained by Bucknell University. Designing for construction safety is the process of addressing construction site safety and health in the design of a project. Benefits include increased productivity, reduced workers' compensation costs, and fewer delays caused by accidents during construction.
Sang D. Choi. "A Survey of the Safety Roles and Costs of Injuries in the Roofing Contracting Industry." Journal of Safety, Health and Environmental Research Vol. 3, No. 1, (Spring 2006). Reviews the direct and indirect costs resulting from workplace injuries in the roofing industry. Loss of productivity and schedule disruptions were the most expensive indirect costs.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island. OSHA and Abbott Case Study, (February 2005). Communicates the business value and competitive advantages of an effective safety and health program.
Pay It Forward: Programs to Protect Health Care Workers Significantly Reduce Injuries and Quickly Recoup Investment Costs. Public Citizen, (July 2015). Report examines financial benefits when hospitals and other health care facilities invest in programs to protect their workers.
Safe Lifting and Movement of Nursing Home Residents. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 2006-1117, (February 2006). Presents a business case to show that the investment in lifting equipment and training for moving nursing home residents can be recovered through reduced workers' compensation expenses and reduced costs associated with lost and restricted work days.
Worker Safety in Hospitals. OSHA. Includes information on the costs of workplace injuries and illnesses in hospitals, and highlights the value of implementing safety and health programs and safe patient handling programs.

The Business Case for Process Safety. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), (2006). CCPS developed a brochure and presentation to help companies demonstrate the business case for process safety management.

Ergonomic Improvements in Manufacturing. OSHA and Abbott Case Study, (February 2005). Communicates the business value and competitive advantages of an effective safety and health program.

OSHA and The Steel Group Case Study. OSHA, (December 2005). Shows how Chaparral Steel implemented its "Manager Accountable for Safety and Health" (MASH) program to educate managers, supervisors, and team leaders about OSHA compliance, safe work practices, and company-specific policies and procedures.

Ergonomics Case Study. OSHA and the Dow Chemical Company, (February 2005). Describes the Six Sigma methodology and how Dow used it to successfully address ergonomics hazards in the company's design and construction division.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island. OSHA and Abbott Case Study, (April 2005). Discusses the cost savings associated with implementing a workplace ergonomics program in an administrative/customer service setting to prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs.)
Ergonomic Improvements in Manufacturing. OSHA and Abbott Case Study, (February 2005). Communicates the business value and competitive advantages of an effective safety and health program.
Safe Lifting and Movement of Nursing Home Residents. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 2006-1117, (February 2006). Presents a business case to show that the investment in lifting equipment and training for moving nursing home residents can be recovered through reduced workers' compensation expenses and reduced costs associated with lost and restricted work days.
Don Bloswick. "Making a Business Case for Ergonomics." The Compass, American Society of Safety Engineers, Management Practice Specialty Newsletter, (Winter 2006).

Fleet Safety at Abbott. OSHA and Abbott Case Study, (February 2005).
Measuring the Value of Seat Belt Programs. Kathy Lusby-Treber, Executive Director, Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) Slide Presentation, (September 14, 2004). Presentation at the joint OSHA/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Safety Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Motor Vehicle Accident Case Study. OSHA and The Dow Chemical Company Case Study, (December 2005). Describes the Six Sigma methodology and how Dow used it to successfully reduce motor vehicle accidents in the company's Hydrocarbons and Energy business unit.

Procuring R-Active at Abbott. OSHA and Abbott Case Study, (February 2005). Communicates the business value and competitive advantages of an effective safety and health program.

$afety Pays. OSHA. Interactive software that assists employers in assessing the impact of occupational injuries and illnesses on their profitability. It uses a company's profit margin, the average costs of an injury or illness, and an indirect cost multiplier to project the amount of sales a company would need to generate to cover those costs.
Small Business Success Stories. OSHA. Provides stories about small businesses that have improved their safety and health programs, including companies that have participated in OSHA's Consultation Program and Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP).
Theresa Holizki, Larry Nelson and Rose McDonald. "Injury Rates as an Indicator of Business Success." Industrial Health Vol. 44:166-168, (2006). Study of new small businesses that registered with the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia. A statistical correlation was found between workplace safety and health and the survival of a small business. Businesses that failed within one to two years of start-up had an average injury rate of 9.71 while businesses that survived more than five years had an average injury rate of 3.89 in their first year of business.