It’s a sad reality that employers often need incentives to enhance safety, but the financial benefits of a safe workplace are great, as North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, May 4-10, hopes to prove, among other things.
In the US alone, occupational injuries and illness expenditures total nearly $171billion a year, according to the sources used by the event organisers. It has also been reported that injury and illness costs can approach up to 5% of an organisation’s total costs. Additionally, establishing and sustaining effective safety and health systems can reduce costs by 20-40%.
The Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) and its key product sections, namely the Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA), the Hoist Manufacturers Institute (HMI) and the Monorail Manufacturers Association (MMA), have united in support of NAOSH Week.
The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and more than 25 OSHA Alliance Programme participants will use the week to illustrate how safety is not only good business, but also saves lives.
The goal of the week is to focus the attention of employers, employees, the general public and all partners in occupational safety, health and the environment on the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace.
The CMAA, HMI and MMA have, as has been widely reported, signed a formal alliance with the US safety regulatory body OSHA.
As part of the deal, the associations produce more safety guidance, organise safety conferences, and distribute existing best practice more widely. They also promote compliance with federal standards and promote OSHA safety programmes.
NAOSH Week provides an international stage from which it can illustrate how safety performance is good for business and for life.
Safety’s positive return on investment is gaining greater attention. A recent study by global investment company Goldman Sachs JBWere found that companies that don’t adequately manage occupational safety and health perform worse financially than companies that do.
This suggests that investors should look at a company’s occupational safety and health policies and practices as a factor in their investment strategy.
How does your firm measure up?
Meanwhile, have you voted in the latest polls on the site? I’m trying to gain an impression of where our readers will be during the busiest period of the year as far as exhibitions and shows are concerned.
Two polls are currently alternating, first asking if you will be attending the two major upcoming exhibitions and, second, asking if you will be exhibiting.
Also, check out the links below to a couple of interesting overhead lifting videos I saw online recently. The first we explored in print in the April issue, where Han-Tek Inc. supplied a custom built charging crane to fellow US firm Special Metals Corporation for its high performance nickel and cobalt alloys plant in Dunkirk, New York.
Richard Howes, Editor
rhowes@wilmington.co.uk