Safety program pays off for SWMO companies

Southwest Missouri businesses have discovered that an investment in safety pays dividends on the bottom line, and a statewide program can give participants a sharper competitive edge.

SHARP – the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program – was established by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration in 1984 as the Inspection Exemption Through Consultation Program. The name was changed to SHARP in 1992.

In Missouri, the program is administered by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations under its On-site Safety and Health Consultation Program.

Participation is open to small companies – those with 250 or fewer employees –  and companies that obtain and maintain SHARP status are exempt from regular OSHA inspections for up to three years,  according to Wanda Seeney, public information administrator for the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

National Home Products of Springfield, an Ozark-based company that achieved SHARP status in 2009, is southwest Missouri’s most recent addition to the program.

It is one of several companies that was motivated to achieve SHARP status by a desire to stand out among competitors, said Mike Downie, president of Summit Safety Group Inc., who already was advising National Home Products before it became a SHARP member.

The safety recognition can attract clients to National Home Products, which sells and installs items including mirrors and cabinetry, said Monica Jenisch, who with her husband, Andy, co-owns the company.

“They don’t have to worry about us coming on their job site. It makes us more hirable,” Monica Jenisch said.

The SHARP process turned out to be easier than the company expected.

“If a company has a written safety program that meets all their OSHA requirements, they’ve probably met 90 percent of what SHARP requires them to have in writing,” Downie said.

But Jenisch noted that having a safety consultant is key, since participants are essentially inviting OSHA into the workplace to make sure they meet program requirements.  

Safety pays off
Once a company has a few years of SHARP status under its belt, it’s not hard to see the benefits of the program.

That’s been the case for Neosho-based K&S Wire Products, a SHARP member since 2005, according to Dave Padgett Sr., vice president of manufacturing.

K&S Wire, which employs about 130, makes products from industrial wire, including barbecue grills, heater guards and retail store displays.

To achieve the SHARP designation, K&S had to establish a comprehensive health and safety program. The company invested approximately $5,000 over the course of two years to hire a safety consultant and for materials and record keeping. It also invested about 550 man hours to review programs and put them in place during that two-year period, and each employee received about three hours of safety training per month.

But Padgett said K&S has recouped its investment. The company’s insurance costs dropped by 30 percent, while direct medical costs related to accidents fell by half.

“Our number of accidents with or without medical treatment was reduced by 70 percent,” Padgett said.

With the lowest bill for an evening-shift accident at $1,500, Padgett said the prevention measures that come with SHARP definitely offset the program costs.

“I could easily say that we recouped our $5,000 in the first six months,” he added.

Ongoing safety focus
The SHARP process begins with a complete hazard identification survey of the workplace and interviews with employees. The company must correct any workplace safety hazards, and then implement and maintain a safety and health management system that at minimum meets OSHA guidelines, Seeney said.

SHARP status exempts participants from regular OSHA inspections, but after the designation is earned, Padgett said, each company must annually review its safety efforts, carefully documenting all aspects of its safety efforts and goals.

Maintaining SHARP status is tied to two major factors, said Summit Safety Group’s Downie.

The company must maintain a workplace injury rate that’s below the national average for its industry, and it must maintain a comprehensive safety and health program.

But at least for Padgett, the SHARP process is well worth the effort.

“I believe that the process we went through to achieve SHARP, and the process we must continue to stay in the program, makes us a better company to work for,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]