Workplace safety doesn’t just benefit employees. In fact, it saves businesses money every year. However, this only happens if safety is a priority for the business.

It’s not uncommon for businesses to spend less on safety as a way to reduce costs. Usually, this just ends up increasing costs and hurting employees in the process.

Avoid Lawsuits

The most obvious way workplace safety saves a business money is avoiding costly lawsuits. If an employee gets injured on the job due to poor safety equipment and process, they can sue for medical expenses and much more. While businesses may have insurance to project against this, insurance rates can rise with every covered instance.

Reduce Lost Work Time

Lawsuits aside, any injury or illness causes employees to be out of work. Odds are, you’re probably not going to hire someone else when an employee is only out for a few weeks at most. This leaves you with fewer employees. Plus, you may have to pay for sick leave during that time, resulting in your company paying for an employee who isn’t even at work.

Frequent incidents result in numerous lost hours every year. Plus, if your business uses chemicals and materials that are known to cause breathing issues, your employees may end up with chronic respiratory issues that result in even more sick time.

Avoid Major Fines

OSHA requires businesses to meet certain minimum safety standards. If you don’t comply, you could face hefty fines. Safety inspections and reports of injuries can all cause your business to get caught. Continued problems may even result in your business being shut down.

Reduce Workers’ Compensation Premiums

As with most insurance policies, the more you have to use it, the higher your premiums. If your business has a high rate of workers’ comp claims, your rates will continue to increase. This rate is even higher when you have a large number of employees. Taking some precautions and focusing on better safety processes can drastically reduce claims and your premiums.

Decrease Turnover Rates

Training new employees takes up valuable hours. When employees don’t feel safe, they are more likely to leave. Some of your best and most productive employees may leave your business simply because you don’t take any steps to keep them safer. Constantly having to replace these employees takes time. HR spends more time focused on finding and hiring new people, putting them behind on other duties. Plus, those employees have to spend days going through training sessions. And, if they discover the safety issues, they may leave quickly too.

Attract Better Employees

Businesses always want to attract the best employees to stay competitive. But, if your business has a reputation of not putting safety first, the best of the best will choose to work elsewhere, even if you pay extremely well. When you have a reputation of treating employees well and keeping them safe, you’ll attract far better employees.

Workplace safety saves a business money. Investing in safety equipment, safer processes, and safety training are a small price to pay for all that you save. Implementing an ethics hotline is a great way to catch safety issues before they cost your business.