Employee Safety Programs

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workplaces that establish safety and health management systems can reduce their injury and illness costs by 20 to 40 percent. Safe environments also improve employee morale, which positively impacts productivity and service. When it comes to the costs associated with safety, consider the following statistics from OSHA:
· Employers pay almost $1 billion per week for direct workers’ compensation costs alone, which comes straight out of company profits.
· Injuries and illnesses increase workers’ compensation and retraining costs.
· Lost productivity from injuries and illnesses costs companies roughly $63 billion each year.

​When a company experiences significant increases in workers’ compensation costs, it usually triggers internal activities aimed at reducing insurance costs and spending. The key to spending fewer dollars is more than just stopping a few accidents; it is having a sound safety program designed to continuously improve. This is where a safety program that, at a minimum, is compliant with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards can yield significant savings for your company by reducing injuries and illnesses, saving workers’ compensation dollars.
​
There are five steps  that you can take to have a well-rounded safety program that produces a safe work environment, achieves OSHA compliance, reduces accidents and ultimately reduces workers’ compensation costs.
1.Develop the various programs required by the OSHA standards.
2.Integrate those programs into the daily operations.
3.Investigate all injuries and illnesses.
4.Provide training to develop safety competence in all employees.
5. Audit your programs and your work areas on a regular basis to stimulate continuous improvement.