Mark Oldham, an executive consultant with Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., says it can be best when working with entrepreneurs not to imply that all risk is bad.
In his presentation to attendees of the C&D Recycling Forum, Oldham commented, “To say safety is good and risk is bad doesn’t always sit well with entrepreneurs. What I say is: There is good risk and there is bad risk.”
A lack of attention to safety is a bad risk, said Oldham, because the direct and indirect costs of even a minor accident cut deeply into a company’s profitability.
Oldham said medical and indemnity costs were direct results of accidents while indirect costs include overtime pay, employee turnover, project delays and harm to a company’s reputation.
Profit margins also dictate that accidents be taken seriously, noted Oldham. An insurance industry estimate has shown that an accident that carried just $1,450 in medical costs will entail a construction or demolition contractor needing to generate $280,000 in additional revenue to make up for that expenditure on the bottom line.
Nathan Brainard of the Insurance Office of America, Longwood, Fla., recommended that company owners offer incentives for safe behavior as opposed to waiting to punish offenders when a safety violation occurs. “If you offer incentives it boosts morale and employees are less likely to cut corners; they take ownership and pride in what they’re doing,” said Brainard.
Brainard also touted the benefits of “return-to-work” programs for injured employees, even if they can only take on partial schedules or lighter-duty work. “It gives them a comfort level that the company actually cares, and it can be a way to offer additional training to an employee,” he commented.
Valerie Cantrell of Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., offered an overview of safety training and information available at the safety.cat.com website.
Specific safe operating information on Caterpillar machines (some of which is applicable to types of machines in general) can be found on the site, as can safety videos produced by Caterpillar over the years.
Cantrell said a popular video is the 1970s film “Shake Hands with Danger,” which—in addition to offering some insight into 1970s culture—offers examples of what NOT to do on the job site.
The 2010 C&D Recycling Forum took place Oct. 3-5 at the Sheraton Inner Harbor in Baltimore.