by John Schafer — Originally published in the May/June 2015 issue of IFMA’s FMJ magazine.
Most organizations present a strong safety message around protecting their greatest assets their employees but not enough take the necessary action to back up their statements. In fact, a recent survey of facility professionals by Staples revealed that nearly two-thirds of employees say that recent natural disasters have not led employers to reassess company safety plans.
While many organizations develop an initial safety plan, they often dont update it or, more importantly, enforce it, leading to workplace injuries. This lack of deserved attention is especially concerning considering that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 4 million workers suffer a serious job-related injury or illness every year both from emergencies and everyday incidents.
Another area many businesses struggle with is creating a budget for safety supplies and training. Granted, the amount spent annually on this segment is not significant when compared with other budget categories, but the lack of a specific safety budget is cause for concern. Without it, other discretionary spending obscures tracking annual spending for necessary and compulsory safety supplies and training. This, coupled with the constant pressure to cut costs, can silently undermine even the best safety efforts.
The following six steps will help facility managers prioritize these efforts by implementing workplace safety plans that protect both employees and the bottom line.
1 UNDERSTANDING THE ECONOMICS OF SAFETY
The direct cost of a workplace injury is easy to understand and quantify. It includes the costs of emergency room and doctor visits, medical bills, prescriptions, rehabilitation and costs for legal services. However, many often fail to consider the indirect costs.
Indirect costs can be four times the direct costs of an injury, including training replacement employees, accident investigation and implementation of corrective measures, lost productivity, repairs of damaged equipment and property, and costs associated with lower employee morale and absenteeism, loss of reputation, unwanted media attention and more.
The U.S. National Safety Council estimates that the direct cost of a disabling workplace injury is US$54,000. Assuming the indirect cost is four times this amount, the total would be US$270,000. In a company of 750 employees, an average of eight workers will suffer a nonfatal disabling workplace injury within a year, bringing the total cost to US$2,160,000. This does not even take into account the US$52.5 million assessed in penalties by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for safety violations, with the most frequently cited standards violated including fall protection, hazard communication and respiratory protection.
The impact of workplace injuries on profits is shocking; however, it is only part of the story. The big question is: where is a company going to get the money to cover the costs of workplace injuries? Three basic choices exist. One, it can cut costs. Two, it can produce more revenue. The third alternative is reducing or eliminating workplace injuries.
2 CREATING A SAFETY CULTURE
A safety culture encompasses the values used by management and workers to determine how they behave at work. Instead of being looked at as a priority, safety should be organically embedded into the very fabric of the workplace culture, starting at the executive level and facilitated through the leadership teams in every department.
Workplace safety touches every department in different ways, so its important to secure the support and engagement of each sector of the business. Facility managers need to be able to present a strong argument to decision makers pointing to the economics of safety on both the day-to-day and emergency levels.
Dont rush this process. First, conduct a risk assessment of the workplace for potential high-risk or emergency scenarios. FMs should build a framework for a performance-driven safety program by conducting a thorough hazard analysis, assessing current safety initiatives and becoming familiar with the tools and equipment appropriate to have on hand.
The support of senior management in the business is also key to a successful workplace safety program. They can ensure safety is a top priority for everyone and can eliminate internal roadblocks that happen in any large organization.
Beyond senior management, workplace safety touches other departments in myriad ways:
- Human resources: Every safety-related incident or safety violation requires HR documentation and an interface with the impacted employee. HR leadership also has a role to play in creating the culture of safety in the workplace.
- Accounting: Each department must include safety in its operating budget, so accounting can include it in overall budgeting and allow for possible expenses related to ensuring a safe environment or safety training.
- Legal: Workplace injuries or safety violations require the legal departments involvement. Even a minor workplace injury can result in legal proceedings that may require costly outside counsel and take years to resolve. Even if the company is without fault, legal fees can be a huge drain on profits. A companys legal department can play a key leadership role in creating the culture of safety in the workplace.
- Procurement: The procurement department may have the largest impact, since getting the right safety products at the best available price and ensuring those products are available to workers is essential to every effective safety program. Also, because of their position in the supply chain, purchasing professionals can be a good source of information on new safety products.
Allies in different departments can help remove barriers and raise the profile of workplace safety to a new level, so its important to incorporate them when establishing a culture of safety.
3 ENGAGING AND EQUIPPING EMPLOYEES
Once the leadership team is on board, its essential to engage all employees in the most effective manner to achieve success. When communicating with staff, FMs should portray safety as a continual integrated process, rather than a compliance requirement. Additionally, when introducing new safety activities, its best to present them as a regular part of the work process, as opposed to flavor of the month initiatives. Emphasize that safety initiatives are here to stay and will not be de-emphasized at any point after the initial instruction and ramp-up phases.
A key element to employee engagement is education, as workers must understand what they should do to stay safe and prepared for routine incidents or crises. Taking the time to train employees will not only prevent injuries, but will also save money in the end. FMs should use safety meetings to focus on identifying ways to mitigate hazards, plan the safest way to approach tasks and set practical standards for safe work. These meetings can be conducted as two-way dialogues, confirming that workers understand rules and processes before work resumes.
Where applicable, businesses need to maintain a satisfactory hazard communications program and execute it effectively. Employees have a right to know about high-risk zones and potential encounters, as well as how to protect themselves if they are exposed to hazardous chemicals in the workplace. Compliance includes having a list of all hazardous materials on the company website and on site, training staff on the proper use of personal protective equipment, and material safety and data sheets.
4 WORKPLACE INJURY CAUSES AND PREPARATION
The next step is to identify common causes of workplace injuries and devise plans to mitigate them. For example, overexertion is a leading cause of work-related injury, and is unique in that it can happen over time. To mitigate overexertion, businesses should design the job around workers by using the science of ergonomics to reduce the risk and severity of injuries. Properly equipping employees will lead to a reduction in workplace injuries and promote the image of a safety-conscious workforce, both to the leadership teams and to the staff as a whole.
In case of emergencies, facility managers need to educate employees on the appropriate protective actions for life safety whether these include evacuation, sheltering, shelter-in-place, lockdown or another action. Its virtually impossible to know exactly when an emergency, crisis or dangerous situation will arise, so it is important that FMs have appropriate emergency planning in place and instruct staff members on correct protocols.
Its always good to encourage workers to improve their adherence to safety measures, as well as reinforce preventative practices through helpful signage in high-risk zones and email reminders.
5 OPTIMIZE RESPONSE TO INJURIES
Its nice to imagine that every single employee will avoid safety-related incidents throughout the year, but that line of thinking is not realistic. Whats essential is that FMs reduce injury rates through early detection and problem solving. FMs should encourage reporting complaints and take all of them seriously. For any complaints, provide private and confidential exchanges, engage the workers in problem solving to reduce discomfort and encourage medical evaluation and treatment if appropriate.
How FMs handle incident response and root cause analysis says a lot to workers. When an incident occurs, FMs must respond immediately to care for the worker and take mitigating steps to address exposures. Effectively doing this can have an immediate and positive impact on employee participation in safety efforts.
In working to accommodate injured workers, FMs should identify potential ergonomic factors and monitor the effectiveness of job accommodations after they return to work. Some injuries will happen regardless of preventative efforts, but its important to react accordingly.
6 TRACKING PROGRESS
Lastly, its essential for FMs to keep close tabs on the frequency and severity of workplace injuries at regular intervals. Near-misses present an opportunity to identify a potential hazard and find a way to control it. Facility managers should look at accident investigations as process improvement projects, not fault-finding missions.
As always, communication is critical, especially with senior leadership, finance and procurement teams, to show the value of safety-related expenditures. Revamping safety efforts will require an investment, but in preventing and mitigating incidents, it will be money well spent.
John Schafer, LEED AP BD+C has 25 years of experience in the janitorial/hospitality industry and is an ISSA Green Cleaning Professional. He is currently employed by Staples Advantage as a field sales director – vertical markets and helped build its safety team from one member two years ago to 20 members today.
Schafer has authored numerous published articles on green cleaning and sustainability. He is an active member of the Arizona Chapter of the United States Green Building Council and serves as their Western Area Council representative. Schafer serves on the chapter’s Green School Committee and is a Stakeholder Committee member for the ISSA K-12 Clean Standard currently under development.