Workplace Risk Management

The Financial Fallout of Overlooked Workplace Hazards

Most people think of workplace safety as avoiding a major accident in a factory or a dramatic fall at a construction site. And in the rush to meet deadlines and make everyone as productive as possible, it’s easy for businesses to develop tunnel vision.

Honestly, how can they not?

But the problem with focusing so much on efficiency is that smaller, but dangerous hazards slip under the radar. And the thing with small hazards is that they usually don’t stay small. They pile up and, when that happens, you can pretty much count on a financial disaster.

To be clear, this isn’t just about safety for safety’s sake, though that’s reason enough.

This article will focus more on the financial fallout that comes from ignoring everyday dangers.

When Missed Hazards Start Costing Real Money

When a company ignores a seemingly small hazard, they might not see any damage at first, but sooner or later, they will. And it won’t be pretty.

This is how those money-draining cycles start and they hit the budget where it hurts the most.

Small Disruptions That Turn Into Big Slowdowns

Imagine a company building.

There’s a messy, cluttered aisle, and everyone steps over all of it all the time. One day, someone trips. They’re not exactly injured, but they drop whatever was in their hands and knock a machine over. Now the whole line has to stop for an hour.

That one hour creates a domino effect because you have to pay overtime just to catch up and you have to let your client know that the shipment might be late.

That mess just cost you both money and customer satisfaction.

Long-Term Claims That Don’t Go Away

The scariest financial hit comes from hazards that cause slow and silent harm.

That could be a chemical nobody realized was dangerous, a daily task that wears down an employee’s body over a couple of years, etc.

Those problems always surface one way or another, and when they do, the financial consequences are a complete nightmare. For example, situations that later require an AFFF firefighter cancer claim evaluation , the costs and complexities could unfold for years.

Cases like this one can tie up your company’s money and focus for the next decade and drain resources from every single project you have.

Insurance Getting More Expensive Than Expected

Your insurance premium isn’t a set bill.

Your insurance company is practically keeping a scorecard, and every time you file a claim, no matter how small, they notice. Then they start to see a pattern and decide you’re a risky client.

And do you know what happens to risky clients when the time for renewal comes? They get a much higher number on their bill.

If you’re considered risky, you’ll pay a small fortune every single month.

You’ll literally pay a premium for not acting on time.

How to Stop Safety Costs Before They Snowball

Even the small stuff can blow up your budget, but the good news is that it doesn’t have to.

If you’re proactive, you can prevent this financial disaster and the trick is to catch the issues while they’re still cheap and easy to fix.

Easier said than done, right? Not really, because some of these small problems are pretty obvious.

Take a wobbly handrail as an example.

You notice it wobbles, so why ignore it and risk someone falling down? That one handrail could mean a claim and a lawsuit, so maybe fix it right away? Start paying attention to things that are almost accidents, like places where someone almost slipped or a piece of equipment that almost failed.

Those are your early warning signs that something isn’t right, and now’s your chance to fix them. But in order to actually hear about all of them, you have to make it easy for your employees to speak up. They have to know you won’t blame them for pointing it out or you’ll stay in the dark until it’s too late.

That one big inspection you have every year isn’t enough.

Instead of counting on that to reveal the issues, you should get into the habit of checking things yourself. A quick walkthrough every 10 days is enough and 5 minutes is all you really need.

Check your workplace but not as a boss, you want to look at it as someone who’s actively looking for trouble.

Conclusion

You might say that, if you look at workplace safety through money and nothing else, it’s cold. And it is, but let’s be honest - money is the language every business speaks.

The whole point of your business is to make money, so why pretend it’s not?

So the best advice anyone can give you as far as workplace safety goes is to be proactive and pay attention to what goes on around you.

Safety should be part of a regular conversation, not something to patch things up after a disaster has already happened.

Informational content only. This material does not constitute legal, insurance, or medical advice.