During the past few months the country has focused most of its attention on our economy.   As the economy worsens certain parts of business and manufacturing are affected first.  Training and safety are part of these affected business units because they are considered non-revenue producing areas.   Safety professionals MUST (as OSHA says) be able to show how their department affects the bottom-line revenue for their company/organization.  You need to show the features and benefits of a good safety program and do it now.  If you wait too long it might be too late. 

The first step is to list every part of your safety program’s benefits and what bottom-line it produces.  The most obvious ones are the reduction in worker comp cost, increased productivity, and reduced health care cost.  Another interesting statistic is the average cost of an injury.  It is estimated (National Safety Council) between $20,000 - $25,000.  If your company operates at 5% profit margin you need and additional $625,000 in sales to break even.  This is a lot of sales for many companies.  Reducing incidents saves money that goes to the bottom-line. 

Ok, now for some basic sales terms.  A FEATURE is something your product or service does and a BENEFIT is how the feature helps the customer (i.e. this car has side air-bags therefore it will make you and your family safer).  You need to understand this concept if you are going to sell your program to management.

Start preparing a report that lists all the features of your safety program, and how these benefit your company.  Hopefully you can translate the benefits into cost savings that affect the bottom line.  The key is to make your report a financial statement that shows a positive effect on the companys bottom-line. 

Now you need to get a “champion.”    A champion is someone on the management team (it could be your manager or someone else) who can help champion your cause.  Discuss your report with your manager and your champion.  Be prepared to defend you findings, they will be challenged. 

Now the hardest part of the process.  Ask your manager/champion if you can present your finding to upper management.  It is important for YOU to present these findings.  This is your program and your report. 

Forecasters are saying it will be a while before our economy turns up.  The longer you wait to act the easier it will be for the company to act first.  Take the initiative and be proactive for your department and your job.