“We can’t afford to keep spending money on our safety programs and activities.”
In this time of financial crisis and cutbacks throughout the construction industry both here in California as well as around the country, safety should not be the area to make radical cuts. While having safety management systems and oversight in place can be costly, let’s take a look at the alternative.
Suppose we have two companies that we’ll call “Y” and “Z.” Company Y’s mindset is that “Safety is a necessary evil” and the company will do just what it absolutely has to in order to get by.
So Company Y lays off the safety department, discontinues inspections and training sessions, and eliminates employee incentive programs. After a few weeks, the once high-quality safety program has rapidly deteriorated into some old posters in the break room that were sent as samples from a supplier and an occasional “Have a Safe Day” greeting from a superintendent.
Time passes and workers who once believed in what Company Y told them at safety meetings, or during training classes, are now disillusioned and believe their personal safety and well-being are not that important in terms of the organization’s goals and objectives. “If the company doesn’t care about me, why should I care about the company” attitudes start to surface and productivity, quality of workmanship as well as morale all begin to decline. As for safety performance, well, you can pretty well bet that the number of injuries and property damage accidents are going to go up.
“But my employees are safety conscious, no matter what”… Company Y management thinks. “Surely they understand that the cost was just too high to keep spending money on meetings, training, headcount, travel and just simply letting them know how important they are to the business. So some cuts were made and then some more”. But where do the cuts stop? And how hard will it be to turn it around again, if that is even possible?
Now let’s look at Company Z. They, too, are facing the same budget crunches, cuts in the number and size of jobs, tradespeople getting unhappy with their loss in revenue, and all of the pitfalls of a slow economy. The big difference between the two companies soon comes to light.
Company Z, even though the costs are high and constantly rising, keeps their safety programs intact and looks for ways to improve upon an already successful strategy.
Safety meetings are still being held, jobsite inspections by their safety team continue, workers still believe that they are important, and corporate management continue to support the safety systems that have been established. Morale is still positive even though times have been better, and most are just waiting for the economy to make the turn back toward prosperity again. Foremen and superintendents remain positively focused on the safe operation of the company on a daily basis and set an example for their crews to follow. Management is convinced that in the long run, their investment will reap large dividends by improving quality and productivity and saving money.
Let’s take one LAST look at Company Y. During a deposition in a pre-trial conference for a multi-million dollar lawsuit, one of the attorneys asks the President of the Company what they were doing in regards to safety training for their employees, and how that compares with what their competitiors (Company Z?) were doing. As he searches for an answer, his statement about safety not being affordable right now echoes through his mind.
Are your safety programs really that costly to maintain? Most often it is far more cost effective to keep what you have rather than make cuts that may result in increased spending in other areas and could ultimately result in writing the last check that closes your doors forever.
Rich Lawler is the Principal Consultant for Arlington Associates LLC and is responsible for providing a wide range of construction safety services to Allied North America Insurance Brokerage of California clients. He has over 25 years of experience in conducting jobsite assessments, technical training and safety program reviews. Rich can be reached at rlawler@alliedna.com or 415-290-0387.