Balancing Efficiency and Safety in Manufacturing: How to Prioritize Both

Don’t ignore safety.

Some companies think that safety is expensive and will impact profits. However, ignoring safety will wind up costing you in the long run. If there is an accident at work, it can seriously impact your workforce morale and production costs. Not only does this erase gains but leads to losses when a worker is injured on the job.

Take productivity into account.

As an employer, it’s your job to produce profits to pay the salary of employees and offer healthy returns to shareholders. Productivity therefore needs to top the list of priorities as well. Keep in mind, though, when accidents do happen, you’ll wind up paying in the form medical care, workers compensation premiums, and even regulatory fines if you didn’t follow proper protocols.

Be realistic in your approach.

At the same time, you can’t be 100% safe, all the time. There will always be risks to producing any type of good in the manufacturing world. You therefore need to take a realistic approach to safety, one that relies on common sense and proven methods. This includes steps such as:

• Creating a culture of safety, one where safety is talked about regularly, employees are encouraged to report hazards and concerns, and routine training is required.
• Making sure employees know the safety rules your company requires and why they are important. When they understand the reason behind the rules, you’ll have more buy-in from your team.
• Checking equipment and ensuring employees have access to all the PPE they need to remain safe on the job. Get feedback from your team about any resources or tools they don’t currently have that would help them remain safer.
• Practicing emergency response drills and fire prevention. This way, in case of an emergency, your team knows what to do and can work together to minimize damage and injuries.

Need help hiring safety-conscious professionals?

When you run a manufacturing facility, you need people who are safety conscious. Let Gill Staffing, one of the leading recruitment firms for manufacturing companies in West Michigan, provide them. We can source, screen, interview and even skill test and check references. Simply contact us today to get started.