By Mike Mulhall, Director of Occupational Programs
Safety Council of the Ozarks
Why should you put the effort into improving workplace safety and health?
Work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths are costly to everyone. A safe and healthy work environment pays, in more ways than one. In Missouri each year about 19,000 workers lose time from work because of job-related injury or illness. The National Safety Council estimates the average cost of a lost-time injury to be $78,000 in 2006.
That's $877,000,000 wasted each year in Missouri alone. At $540 billion a year nationwide, the direct and indirect costs of work injuries and illnesses equal those of cancer, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
These are only financial costs. There's no way to know the value of the quality of life lost to injuries and illnesses. Work injuries and illnesses can affect every aspect of life for workers and their families. For workers, injuries or illnesses can cause:
•Loss of life,
•Pain and suffering,
•Loss of income/financial well-being,
•Stress on relationships,
•Loss of job or career,
•Health-care costs beyond coverage.
Workers may also suffer from low self-esteem, loss of independence, mental health problems, other medical problems, and damaged relationships.
For employers a safe and healthy workplace not only protects workers from injury and illness, it can also lower injury/illness costs, reduce absenteeism and turnover, increase productivity and quality, and raise employee morale. In other words, safety is good for business. Plus, protecting workers is the right thing to do. We have maintenance and care programs for our expensive production machinery should we not have as much concern for our human capital?
Employers can save $4.00 to $6.00 for every dollar spent on a safety and health program. Workplaces with successful safety and health management systems reduce injury and illness costs 20-40%, according to OSHA. For a small to moderate sized construction company, one injury can mean financial disaster. Costs to business include:
•Production losses
•Wages for work not performed
•Increased workers' compensation
insurance costs
•Damage to equipment or machinery
•Hiring and/or training new employees
•Decline in quality/worker morale
•Decline in worker morale
•High turnover and lost work time
The cost of worksite injuries, illnesses and deaths is much greater than the cost of workers' compensation insurance alone. Insurance is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these costs. Anyone that has ever taken a cost benefit analysis class realizes that the cost of prevention is far smaller than the costs of a reactive fix.
Safety Pays for Everyone
The cost of injury prevention is far less than the cost of an injury. A safe and healthy workplace attracts and retains quality employees. Keep in mind the indirect cost of replacing a seasoned employee. Characteristics of safe and healthy workplaces:
•Have more satisfied, productive workers who
•Produce higher quality products and services
•Return to work more quickly after an injury or illness
•Feel loyal to the organization
•Are better places to work
•Retain employees
•Establish positive community
relations
It's an asset to a community and attracts more quality employees, operates more efficiently and enjoys a healthy bottom line. The business and the workers thrive in a safe, healthy, respectful and caring environment.
Dr. W. Edwards Demmings, the founder of quality management, made the statement that satisfied workers are more innovative and productive workers. We often look at the bottom line and compare that to the quality or quantity of safety we provide. The businesses that get it: Safety Pays, are those businesses that will survive and thrive, even in years of uncertainly.
The HBA and the Safety Council of the Ozarks are partnering to develop an ongoing branding program for HBA members which will establish basic construction safety standards and recognize those companies who demonstrate their commitment to safety by meeting those standards for a designated period of time. As a safety partner, the SCO also will provide information about construction safety educational opportunities and topics for HBA member publications and programs. (Photo: HBA President Kevin Clingan and Mike Mulhall, Director of Occupational Safety Programs for SCO. The organization was recognized at the recent HBA Awards Banquet to "kick-off" this partnership effort.) 
BUILDERS AND REMODELERS – START THE PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATION PROCESS! THE ASSESSMENT EXAMS WILL BE OFFERED AT THE HBA OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD OFFICE ON FEBRUARY 27, 2009!
