ForConstructionPros.com

Believe it or not, there are still contractors out there who neglect safety on their jobsites. Perhaps they believe taking time out for safety will cause them to miss scheduled deadlines. Or maybe they trust that their employees know what they're doing - that safety "just happens."

If this sounds a bit too familiar, take a step back and consider what this casual attitude may ultimately cost your company. Most construction firms failing to apply proper safety procedures are doomed to be caught eventually, either as a result of an OSHA inspection or due to a major incident on one of their sites. The resulting penalties could effectively cripple the business, with the negative publicity often dealing the final blow.

Even if you manage to escape such a fate, you may still be unknowingly driving your company out of business - or at least profits - one minor incident at a time.

The direct costs (i.e., medical expenses) of a minor accident can be minimal. It's the indirect costs (downtime, higher premiums, cost to repair damage to equipment or structures, etc.) that eat away at profit margins. One estimate equates the indirect costs of an accident to roughly five times the direct costs incurred. And these costs are almost never recovered.

As the number of incidents adds up, so do the indirect costs and their impact on your business.