The Importance of Fleet Safety and Ergonomics

1. Financial 

One of the most significant benefits of a fleet safety program is minimizing employee injury, risk, and associated costs. According to a Constructive Executive report, direct costs (all medical and wage replacement payments) on a typical injury such as a fracture can amount to $50,000 . 

Beyond direct costs, however, are the even bigger indirect costs. What are some examples of indirect costs?

• • Overtime costs. (According to ADP, if you pay time and a half for every additional hour past 40 hours for an employee who currently makes $15/hour, that employee earns $22.50/hour. If they work an additional 10 hours in overtime, that’s an extra $225 in weekly payroll . Note that this is for a single employee and does not include any state overtime requirements.)
  • Legal fees. (Workman’s compensation lawyers can charge up to 15-25% of settlement amounts. So, if you’re paying a $50,000 settlement for that fracture, you could be looking at $7,500 to $12,500 in legal fees.)
  • Lost productivity and days. ( This report claims up 70 million total days lost due to workplace injuries in 2019). 
  • The cost of injury downtime. (Did you know that unplanned downtime can cost a company up to $5,617 a minute or $337,020 an hour? )
  • Cost and time of hiring and training a new worker in replacement. (According to the Society for Human Resources Management, the average cost-per-hire is $4,129 and it takes about 42 days to fill a position .)

• Cost of clean-up, property damage, and equipment replacement.

In that same Constructive Executive report, these indirect costs amount to $55,000. In all, a single workman’s compensation claim can cost your organization up to $105,000.

Your workers need to understand department safety policies and regulatory compliance to do their part in avoiding these costs. This will also keep your DOT happy. Meet those department safety goals and be recognized for protecting your organization by ensuring everyone is in compliance with your safety and ergonomic policies. 

2. Employee Health

Part of building good company culture and a great work environment is caring for employees’ health. According to Liberty Mutual Insurance, every $1 you invest in the safety and ergonomics of your employees yields a $3 to $6 return on investment . So, the more ergonomic the job, the longer these expert employees can stay on without becoming injured, unhappy, or changing careers. 

As a fleet manager, you also want to minimize early retirement or resignations by focusing on workers’ ergonomics. When an employee retires or quits due to injury and poor ergonomics, the efforts to replace them can cost up to 21% of that employees’ salary . If your worker made an annual salary of $60,000, your organization is looking at $12,000 for a single turnover.

Ergonomics both prevents new injuries AND supports workers whose bodies can’t easily access gear and equipment. With an ergonomic system like DECKED, employees will never have to jump in and out of a truck bed, risk injuries, or jeopardize their health.

3. Public Relations

An excellent reputation for safety helps you attract new employees. Prospective workers want to know they won’t suffer from a back injury or any other health issues brought on because of negative working conditions, haphazard safety training, and poor ergonomics.

Furthermore, negative press can significantly damage your business’s reputation and profits. In fact, one organization (specifically one in construction) was rewarded $750,000 in lost revenue in a lawsuit. This was because of a single defamatory review, a tarnished reputation, and the negative public relations it caused. While this company might have won the suit, not all companies can afford an attorney or the time to do so. In most cases, that $750,000 is just gone.

4. Efficiency 

A part of safety training is optimizing your routes to reduce trips and make fewer service stops, thus eliminating any extra opportunity for risk . More efficient routing means your employees also get more work done in less time. In fact, one case study shows how this company’s effective route optimization improved on-time deliveries and work orders by 12%, revenue by 9%, and saved them up to $400,000 a month.

When workers have ergonomic equipment, they get the job done faster. With ergonomic systems like DECKED , your workers will spend less time digging around for tools and gear. DECKED is the premier choice when you want to streamline workflows, optimize processes, and work more efficiently.