How does safety impact on project costs in heavy industry? from GoContractor on Vimeo.
This video gives a short description of some of the major costs involved in project management in the heavy industry that could be prevented or seriously reduced if a safe working environment is always made the top priority. The costs involved after an accident has taken place, only begin with medical expenses such as emergency rooms and doctors visits.
Some of the other primary costs include:
- Workers compensation insurance and medical expenses.
- Training replacement employees.
- Lost work time.
- Accident investigation.
This video goes into more detail on the price of workers compensation insurance, explaining how these costs can be reduced. It also discusses the time that’s often lost if workers are off sick or not able to work after an injury.
US Construction workers rank seventh in the amount of time taken off after a non-fatal injury or illness. In 2015, this made up 9% or 3.3 million non-fatal work-related injuries in the US.
These figures give a good idea of why workers compensation insurance is vital in the construction industry, handling:
- Replacement income
- Legal costs
- Compensation costs given to family members after death.
- Compensation costs after permanent injury.
Raising safety standards and improving safety training are solutions mentioned. Improving safety standards might increase costs at the beginning, but this can also help workers understand what your top priority is and reduce the cost of workers compensation insurance over time.
Some general contractors might refuse to work for a company where workers compensation insurance isn’t available. There’s a goal that’s becoming more important to companies in the heavy industry, simply ‘to let workers know that you care.’
A report set up by Marsh’s Workers’ Compensation Center of Excellence, makes the point that:
Showing that you care about injured employees and communicating with them about their claims can contribute to better outcomes — including faster recovery for employees and lower costs for employers.
After listening to this video, it is worth visiting GoContractor to understand how your company can make contractor management a more simple, safer process, cutting costs over time.
