Industry News: New Study Shows ROI for Safety Spending

Several studies in the past have shown that organizations gain a net return on investment for dollars spent on workplace safety, for examples see the list compiled by OSHA. A recent study published by Fabius et al in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine supported this conclusion.The abstract to the article is shown below:

Objective: To test the hypothesis that comprehensive efforts to reduce a workforce's health and safety risks can be associated with a company's stock market performance.

Methods: Stock market performance of Corporate Health Achievement Award winners was tracked under four different scenarios using simulation and past market performance.

Results: A portfolio of companies recognized as award winning for their approach to the health and safety of their workforce outperformed the market. Evidence seems to support that building cultures of health and safety provides a competitive advantage in the marketplace. This research may have also identified an association between companies that focus on health and safety and companies that manage other aspects of their business equally well.

Conclusions: Companies that build a culture of health by focusing on the well-being and safety of their workforce yield greater value for their investors.

"The Link Between Workforce Health and Safety and the Health of the Bottom Line: Tracking Market Performance of Companies That Nurture a “Culture of Health”"; Fabius, R.; Thayer, R.D.; Konicki, D.L.; Yarborough, C.M.; Peterson, K.W.; Isaac, F.; Loeppke, R.R.; Eisenberg, B.S.; Dreger, M.; Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine September 2013 - Volume 55 - Issue 9 - p 993–1000