Safety is a skill. And like any skill, it takes practice to perfect. As a company, this should be your first priority. “When employees feel like their employer is willing to take care of them and do whatever it takes to make them safer, they have a better sense of ownership,” explains Donovan Seeber, vice president of corporate safety at the West Coast-based ACCO Engineered Systems. When employees feel safe, they are more productive, he explains. This is the key to developing a culture around safety. “And that’s something that everyone has to understand,” adds Ralph Natale, a 30-year industry veteran who has been the safety director of the Pittsburgh-based McKamish Inc. for 20 years. “Developing a culture is just that, developing a culture.”

Each year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues millions of dollars in safety citations after safety inspections and workplace accidents where shops are found liable. Not to mention the amount of indirect loss shops suffer from facility damage, replacement and workers compensation costs.