Safety Equipment - 3 Keys to Getting the Most ROI

Whether you are working to spend the last bits of your budgeted funds for 2019 or planning for purchases in 2020, it’s that time of year we are finalizing our spending plans. And, when it’s budgeting time, ROI is always top of mind. What is the ROI of a safety gate?

A statistic from the National Safety Council highlights the ROI of safety investments: $1 invested in injury prevention, which includes fall protection, returns between $2 and $6. The NSC has also found that the average cost of workers’ compensation claims for a fall in the workplace is over $42,000.

The key word in that above stat is prevention. Being proactive in safety and equipping each workplace environment in a way to prevent falls and other accidents is always a smart decision, especially if you make an investment into the right equipment instead of using a quick fix. Here are three keys to getting the most ROI out of your safety investment.

Choose the Right Equipment

To maximize the return on your investment, it’s important that you choose the right safety equipment for the application. OSHA mandates that all elevated work platforms of 48 inches and higher be protected, and ANSI recommends guarding platforms at heights of 36 inches or more. Dual-gate systems are the best way to ensure compliance with ANSI and OSHA standards, and there are many models to choose from. Ensuring you have the right design for your specific application will help to increase the ROI of your investment. We’ve created a quick guide to help select the right model, and are always available to discuss specific needs.

Look for Added Efficiencies

Safety equipment like our dual-gate systems can also help make other processes more efficient; this can equate to added ROI for each safety gate. With technology, users can integrate the operation of the safety gate into their systems to track products to each pallet drop area. Safety gate power stations can be wired into a facility’s system so the computers can record when the safety gates were operated. The operational cycles of the safety gate can determine what products have been delivered and processed, and identify areas to be replenished, as well as the time to complete each task. There are a lot of options.

Ensure its Built to Last

Longevity is something to keep in mind when looking for a safety gate for your facility. What may appear to be the cheapest design may end up being the most expensive if the device is always left open or falls apart after a love-tap from the lift truck or bump from an AGV. Look for something well constructed, and talk to people who have installed the gates themselves.

Investments in safety can offer further often unmeasurable ROI as well. Safe facilities regularly equate with happy employees. Knowing there is proper safety equipment in the facility to keep them safe can boost morale of employees, and help to keep them on the job for many years. Visible safety equipment can also help on recruiting employees, especially when they are touring the facility. Retaining employees can be a big cost savings to Human Resources, which provides another lift to the ROI of the safety equipment.

The bottom line is that being proactive with safety is a good investment.