I believe there is sufficient evidence to indicate that it is good for any business when safety becomes second nature (what we tend to call a Safety Culture). Please see the Zero Work Injuries Series on my website (www.safetyprogramnow.com).

While we may wish to believe that safety is a number one or equal priority, the truth of the matter is that a for-profit business exists primarily to make a profit. From the senior management point of view it is about MONEY. Everything that a business does is to make money. This includes product/service quality, new business development, client management, human resources, and safety. All of these are a means to achieve the end, which is profit. How important that means is depends on how much that means contributes to the end.

As safety professionals, this may be hard to swallow, but safety in a business is probably not the number one or even equal priority regardless of slogans or mission statements. A business is going to budget according to the potential results. If product quality or obtaining new clients stands the best chance of increasing profit, then that is where the biggest part of the resources will be allocated.

To me, this means that the safety professional must make the case for resource allocation to workplace safety. If the bottom line is money, we must be able to find and present the hard facts that prove spending resources on safety can increase profits (typically through increased production, fewer missed work days, lower workers comp insurance costs, customer satisfaction, etc.).

Once we have senior management agreement that allocating resources to safety will stand a chance of making a positive impact on the bottom line ($$), we as safety professionals will have the tools we need to take safety to a new level…the level where safety is a way of life every day and in every function of the business.