Dr. Jerry Osteryoung Executive Director of the Jim Moran Institute for  Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University

“Safety First” is “Safety Always."
  ~Charles M. Hayes

Recently, I visited a production business and came out feeling lucky just to be alive!  The business produces large amounts of custom-made products for a variety of buyers, but the place was a mess.  It was both dirty and riddled with safety hazards.  I nearly tripped twice over large scraps of material on the floor.

In conditions such as these, the danger factor is not the only issue.  Working in such sloppy conditions has a negative effect on the employees’ attitudes.  In this case, the employees worked hard, but were in very cramped quarters.  As I walked around the operation, I saw time and time again the lack of employee concern being transferred onto customers’ products.  Boxes were not sealed correctly, and stacks of raw materials were being thrown haphazardly into piles.  When I questioned the owner, he said that it had been like this since he bought the business.  Additionally, he did not want to pay the workers to clean up.

While this firm is clearly an extreme case, it is not the only one with safety issues.  From electric cords lying on the floor to sharp desk corners in heavily trafficked areas, I have witnessed plenty of blatant accidents-waiting-to-happen in both factory and office settings.  Quite often, the entrepreneur does not even recognize the hazard.

Liberty Mutual estimates that the cost of workplace injuries in our country exceeds $50 billion dollars.  The most common of these is overexertion, or injuries caused by the excessive lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or throwing of an object.  The second most common accident is falling.

While these injuries occur in all workplaces, small business employees seem to be much more vulnerable.  While big businesses have sufficient resources to spend on evaluating safety issues, small businesses do not.  In addition, the cost of injuries can be much more devastating to small businesses.  Between increases in workman’s comp and potential civil liabilities, they may not have the income to cover the resulting expenses.

In many respects, improving workplace safety takes awareness and training.  First, you must acknowledge that there is a problem, and second, you must know how to handle it.  Safety is not one of those things people just know.  Some sort of training is usually required.

As with most things, if no one is in charge, nothing will happen.  Identify a person or a committee that will take charge of the issue.  You may also opt to bring in one of the many outside firms that evaluate workplace safety.

Now go out and make sure that your workplace is a safe one.

You can do this.

Jerry Osteryoung is the Jim Moran Professor of Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Florida State University. He is also the Director of the Entrepreneurship Program at FSU and Executive Director of the Jim Moran Institute of Global Entrepreneurship. He can be reached by e-mail at jostery@comcast.net or by phone at 850-644-3372.

This article originally published on March 27, 2007.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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