Measuring Cost vs. Benefit of Safety and Training

When budget season comes knocking, your manager makes their annual demand: give me your safety ROI, which sometimes can translate to budget cuts.

Listen, we get it. You’ve got a department to run and every last dollar matters. Unfortunately, it’s easier to calculate the negative cost of safety (such as the cost of a fatal injury) than it is to calculate the positive savings of a safety program. And you need to invest in safety in order to succeed–especially safety training.

What is the cost of safety training per employee? And how do you get smart about the benefit versus the cost? Here’s what managers should know before heading to the annual budget meeting.

What is the Cost of Safety Training Per Employee?

Ultimately, the cost of safety training depends on your size and industry. In 2020, the average company spends $1,111 on training per employee, down $175 from 2019. However, that number belies a huge gap. Small companies (100 to 999 employees) spent an average of $1,511, while large companies (10,000+ employees) spent $924.

How much of that goes to safety training depends on the company. One Safety+Health Magazine survey found that 44% of respondents spent less than $200 per employee on safety training, while 26% spent $200 to $499 per employee and 12% spent $500 to $999. However, the majority of respondents had between 100 and 299 employees, which means they were all small companies.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Safety Training

Ultimately, the question isn’t what safety training costs, but rather whether you’re using your safety training dollars efficiently. This is where cost-benefit analysis comes in.

Cost-benefit analysis is the process of comparing real or projected costs with anticipated benefits. That way, you can make informed decisions about whether this is the right financial choice rather than making subjective judgments.

One way to tackle this is to look at the negative cost of safety accidents and calculate how much money might be saved if you were to pursue a certain safety training method, then compare it to the cost of the training itself.

Ways to Make Your Safety Budget Go Further

Either way, you need to make your safety dollars go further. This is how you can demonstrate strong ROI to your boss and thus keep much-needed money in the budget for the coming year.

A good way to do this is by shopping strategically. Make a list of training items you can’t live without, training items you could most benefit from, and courses you would like to have. Then, instead of cobbling solutions together, look for training providers who cover the most important courses in one comprehensive toolkit. That way, you can direct your money to one endpoint and put it to use even if you’re not using certain training modules all the time.

The Tools You Need for Safety Success

What is the cost of safety training per employee? Unfortunately, it’s not cheap. but with the right tools, safety training is more accessible than ever.

Like our safety training software, which makes it easy to improve training management with a robust learning management system. So if you’re ready to boost your training ROI, get in touch to learn how our software can help.