As everyone knows, we are in an economic upheaval like we've never seen. We've reached the point where the government is involved in a Wall Street bailout of epic proportions. If larger companies are going bankrupt or being bought out at bargain basement prices, how are the smaller companies going to survive?

There will be job losses and decreased profit margins for sure. And some will not weather the storm. But as always well-run organizations will continue to operate and many experts predict these survivors will prosper down the road.

If you are to be one of the survivors, you need to rely on what has carried your business this far: your core values. Productivity, quality and, yes, safety need to remain at the forefront. Anything less will jeopardize your company's ability to recover and be competitive. 

Unfortunately, often one of the first things to get axed is safety. In a way, it's almost predictable. You can see quality and you can see productivity. They’re visible everyday on the floor or in the field. But safety is sometimes hard to measure so it doesn’t get the attention and funding it deserves. The ramifications of this may be the undoing of an otherwise solvent operation.

Sometimes it's good to go back to the fundamentals of why companies operate the way they do. The below link will bring you to an article that hopefully will be a reminder to decision-makers reading this post. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to lay off employees or shutdown an entire division. But, I honestly believe that to cut back on employee health and safety is a decision that will come with regrets well into the future. Don’t underestimate the value of safety in uncertain economic times.

• Cost Savings Through Better Safety