Safety Training: Investing in your team’s wellbeing

By Dan Clapper, Market Director, Commercial HVAC and Facilities Maintenance, Interplay Learning

Investing in effective on-the-job safety training is crucial for today’s workers. When you prioritize safety, you’re not only protecting your employees from workplace accidents, but you’re also fostering a culture of responsibility and care. It can be tempting to view time spent away from revenue-generating tasks as time wasted. However, companies that take the time to train workers to stay safe while completing their jobs have been proven to benefit in multiple ways. 

One of the most direct benefits is limiting worker’s compensation costs. Experts estimate US businesses spend about $1 billion every week on worker’s compensation claims and related medical reimbursements and legal fees. 

The true cost rises exponentially when you consider lost time on the job, time spent training replacement workers, damage to equipment, and other indirect expenses that result from accidents. Here are some of the other ways companies can leverage safety training to reduce costs and increase revenue: 

• Productivity: Some people think the time it takes to learn, implement and follow safety guidelines could be better spent working to generate revenue. Research, however, clearly shows that accidents and injuries have a major impact on productivity in the long run. In fact, a workplace with well-established safety protocols is more productive than one where safety practices are ignored. Keeping employees safe and preventing injuries keeps them working, while injuries remove them from the workplace. Such disruptions slow operations. Shifting the workload to the remaining employees can result in burnout and errors—and even increase the risk of further accidents.  
• Recruiting and retention: Trades industries are facing a chronic shortage of skilled labor. Demonstrating your company’s commitment to safety is one important way to attract top young talent and keep experienced workers on the team. An accident or injury on the job can quickly harm any organization’s reputation. Preventing them can play a role in making you an employer of choice in your market. 
• Reduced risk: The potential costs of an on-the-job accident or injury go far beyond worker’s comp claims and lost productivity. A lawsuit related to a workplace injury claim can drag on for years and result in enormous legal fees and penalties. Reducing the risk of job site accidents reduces potential legal liability and can help companies keep insurance costs down. Even if an accident happens on a job site, having a training program in place can mitigate the potential legal consequences. 
• Compliance: Similarly, employers who are lax about safety may face fines and other penalties from local, state and federal regulatory agencies. Staying in compliance with those agencies protects workers from risk—and protects businesses from the high costs associated with enforcement. 

Developing and maintaining an effective training program to meet the needs of today’s evolving employee expectations can be challenging. While traditional training methods based on in-person classroom instruction have their place, they are often less effective than flexible technology-based solutions designed to meet workers where they are. This adaptability isn’t just about convenience; it’s about ensuring everyone is getting their jobs done safely and effectively. 

Digital training platforms provide unique advantages in the modern workplace. Learners can engage with proven, expert-led training material at their own pace, on a variety of devices, wherever they are—at the office, at home, or even between jobs. With digital training tools, it’s easier to monitor completion progress and track who has completed the training, especially if you have a large number of workers spread across different sites or locations. These platforms can even enable workers to practice safety scenarios in a virtual environment before facing them in the real world. 

Safety training isn’t just a box to check–it’s essential to building a safe and productive workplace. In 2022, more than 2.8 million workplace illnesses and injuries were reported, adding up to billions of dollars in direct and indirect losses. We can do better. Choosing to invest in safety training demonstrates a commitment to protecting your team and your bottom line. 

Dan Clapper is commercial HVAC and facilities maintenance market director for Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online and VR training for the essential skilled trades. He has more than 25 years of experience in HVAC service and installation, wholesale sales and distribution, and manufacturer training.