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The safety-productivity connection
Nowhere is the workforce skills gap more consequential than in workplace safety, and nowhere is the connection to productivity more direct.
Experienced workers have developed instincts about risk. They know which shortcuts are acceptable and which are dangerous, they recognize when fatigue is affecting judgment, and they understand how different operations interact to create hazards. This knowledge keeps them safe and keeps operations running smoothly. Younger, less experienced workers don’ t have these instincts yet. They’ re learning in environments where the pace is faster, the pressure is higher, and the margin for error is smaller than ever before.
The costs of this gap are measurable. Beyond the human toll, workplace incidents directly impact the productivity metrics that determine whether reshoring makes economic sense. For instance, the average cost of unplanned downtime in manufacturing is approximately $ 260,000 per hour, with some industries experiencing costs as high as $ 2.3 million per hour. Additionally, the total cost of work injuries in 2023 was $ 176.5 billion, encompassing wage and productivity losses, medical expenses, and administrative costs. These figures underscore the significant financial implications of workplace incidents.
In addition to this direct impact to productivity, keeping workers healthy is an essential aspect of keeping facilities productive. Losing a trained, skilled worker for any period of time to a workplace injury will diminish throughput and further strain the systems by removing key human‘ cogs’.
Forward-thinking manufacturers are addressing this by deploying technology that provides the kind of environmental awareness and risk detection that experienced workers possess naturally. These systems don’ t replace
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