How Can Reliability Based Program Improve Safety

You need not be an accountant or statistician to know that safety is essential for business. The sampling of the annual cost incurred as a direct result of accidents clearly provides a business case – if not an ethical mandate – that safety should be the first thing for every company.

• Approximately six million workers suffer from non-fatal workplace injuries at an annual cost to U.S. businesses of more than $125 billion. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

• Lost productivity from the workplace injuries and illnesses costs companies about $60 billion annually. (OSHA)

• The median days away from work because of injuries and illnesses for goods-producing industries is nine days each year, with more than a quarter of days-away-from-work cases at 31 days or more away from work. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• The total annual economic cost of occupational injuries and death is estimated to exceed $142.2 billion, with a total of about 120 million days lost due to occupational deaths and injuries. (National Safety Council)

• Businesses spend some $170 billion a year on costs that is associated with occupational illnesses and injuries. (American Industrial Hygiene Association, OSHA)

• Employers annually spend more than $50.8 billion in wage payments and medical care for workers hurt on the job. (Liberty Mutual)

Data collected by OSHA indicates that since its inception in 1970, a total of 75,000 lives have been saved and millions of injuries and illnesses have been prevented through reliability-based effective and OSHA safety programs. These programs focus on three areas: process reliability, asset reliability, and procedure reliability.