Safety Isn’t a Cost Center. It’s a Profit Center.

I borrowed the title of this blog from something brilliant that Lance Murry recently told me: 

“Management has to understand that safety is also a profit center. It’s not a cost center.” 

He mentioned this in a recent podcast. Lance said those words after acknowledging something that not enough safety managers are gutsy enough to admit. Years ago, Lance told me the company he works for missed out on numerous lucrative contracts because of its bad safety record. Potential customers saw that his company had far too many injuries—and they took their business elsewhere. 

My guest hit on a very important point. And it made me rethink my approach to the return on investment (ROI) of safety. Too often I get sucked into the old way of thinking about safety—that safety is often associated with costs. We’ve all read the kinds of safety statistics that focus on costs. Those statistics remind us that construction injuries cost companies—and society—billions of dollars. 

Maybe it’s time to focus more on profits. With that in mind, here’s a statistic to help you start rethinking the ROI of safety: Construction companies save between $4 and $6 for every $1 invested in safety programs, according to OHSA. 

To learn more ways to consider safety a profit center, listen to or watch my episode of “The True Safety Podcast with Apolonia Rockwell” in which I talk with Lance Murry, who has been a safety professional for over thirty years. https://youtu.be/hlQ0d_67ZG4