Health and safety in the workplace is not something that any business should be scrimping on, particularly if it’s a business involving lots of potentially dangerous manual labour. However, in a world of constantly expanding costs, it is certainly something that many businesses might consider cutting back on. Could there be a way to do this without putting your employees at risk though? Let’s see.
Workplace injuries
In 2017/2018 alone there were over half a million non-fatal workplace injuries in the UK that cost the economy roughly £15 billion. Those are certainly not small numbers and they represent a significant cost, even when spread among hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of businesses.
The average cost, per case, of a workplace injury, is around £7,400 whereas a fatal injury can cost millions. And that’s before you take into account the non-financial aspects such as the quality of life of your employees, the lost hours of labour and the reputational damages to your company, which can be incalculable.
Cutting costs without compromising safety
With so much potentially to lose by cutting back on health and safety, you might assume it would be almost impossible to do so safely. However, the following tips should help dial back the expenses without exposing your staff to any additional risks.
Digital health and safety boards – One way to cut costs is to consolidate your health and safety messaging with high-visibility health and safety LED signs that contain all relevant information and statistics. These signs can be updated with new data continually, relating everything from the days since the last accident to staffing levels, countdowns and timers. As an affordable way to back your health and safety protocols, these signs really are in a field of their own.
Going paperless – Health and safety is one aspect of your business that is bound to generate quite a lot of paperwork for human resources. By going paperless and adapting to a completely digital filing system you could save thousands, depending on the size of your business. And think of all the shredding you’d be able to avoid.
Cutting travel – When employees travel for work they are forced to interact with factors beyond the control of the employee. This could either be on the way to or from work or while travelling to a meeting. The rise in the acceptability of remote working in recent years has created a situation where travel is no longer as necessary as it was before and travel can be both dangerous and expensive.
Lower premiums – If you’ve made legitimate improvements to your health and safety protocols in recent months then you might be able to lower worker compensation and insurance premiums. Ask your insurance company if they are willing to offer you a lower rate. If you’ve had no accidents recently they might be able to accommodate you.
Addressing the root cause – Avoiding a single incident could save your company a small fortune so consider auditing your current health and safety protocols. Utilise analytics to figure out at what time of the day and at what locations injuries are more likely to occur and work on the areas that need to be worked on, focusing on the trees rather than the whole wood.
Of course, health and safety is a wide-ranging issue with thousands of facets to pick apart and potential costs to consider. But with the right mindset, you can save money without sacrificing your staff’s wellbeing.
Image: Aleksandar Malivuk / Shutterstock.com
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