Here’s a nifty little example you can use to document the economic return of dollars invested on PPE.

Direct Cost of Average Eye Injury (medical, workers’ comp, etc.): $10,000

Indirect Cost of Eye Injury (3 x direct costs): $30,000

Total Nominal Costs of Eye Injury: $40,000

Profit Margin on Job Where Injury Occurs: 5%

New Revenue Company Must Generate to Recover Costs: $800,000

Here’s the kicker. Wearing the right PPE will prevent most eye injuries. Thus, spending about $20 for a good pair of safety glasses or $35 for a set of goggles would have saved the company $40,000.

Stated differently, the roughly $50 a company saves in not furnishing adequate eye protection results in a loss that the company must generate $800,000 in additional revenue to offset.

Source: International Safety Equipment Association, http://www.safetyequipment.org/ppe_broch.pdf

Story Tools:  Email This Post  Print This Post Top