October 11, 2002—Research findings in occupational safety and health are an effective tool companies can use to reduce costs and increase workplace safety, according to the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).
From reducing frivolous lawsuits, cutting expenses tied to hiring and training employees to providing sound evidence to support theories, safety research plays a major role in improving the bottom line.
Recent studies show that the U.S. tort system costs $180 billion per year as a result of liability claims and indirectly causes losses on the economy in the form of products and services that are never produced as a result of the fear of litigation.
“Increasing capital invested, including research, in preventing losses and injuries provides a greater return on investment,” ASSE President Mark Hansen said. “Increasing safety reduces health and turnover costs, business interruption, insurance costs and, of major importance, saves lives.”
Hansen noted that safety is critical to a productive, profitable work environment. One of the tools occupational safety, health and environmental professionals use to increase awareness of this and to better understand the causes of work-related diseases and injuries and the potential hazards of ever-evolving workplace technologies and practices is through sound research.
“Before we began our emergency preparedness program survey of West Virginia schools, there were no programs in place,” Dr. Daniel E. Della-Giustina, College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, said of his 1999 ASSEF study titled ‘How to Cope with Terrorism in the Schools.’ “Now they are informed as to what could happen and what they can do about it to address all types of contingency situations. Before we began our research they were unaware of the risks and the remedies.”
“Good research, like effective safety systems, pays,” Hansen said. “We encourage and urge students, corporations and all organizations to tap into this resource and utilize the findings.”
For more information, contact ASSE.
