We hear about the various ways that companies “downsize” their payrolls either in tough economic times or to avoid having to implement onerous laws and regulations. There is the “last hired, first fired” approach to downsizing, and there is the re-prioritizing of positions so the less-essential – according to the executives who won’t find themselves unemployed – positions are cut loose. And how important does your company consider your health and safety personnel? Are those workers essential for your company, or does your company have the health and safety program in place that the position(s) might be obsolete?
[IMAGE CREDIT: Online Safety Community via Flickr]Even in this tough economy, a health and safety expert in a company is still important to protect workers. Consultants and contractors might be a low-cost alternative to a full-time, salaried and benefited position on your payroll.
How about your small business? Is your business so small that you really cannot afford to hire a health and safety expert to implement a program? There is salary and benefits, and in some ways this type of position may not be as valuable as, say, a sales rep who can improve your company’s revenue numbers – while a health and safety person does not necessarily bring in revenue. However, there is very little argument that any company could use a health and safety program, and would love access to an expert in the field to ensure that your company has a safe working environment for all workers and an efficient workplace when it comes to the bottom line.
But if you are facing a tough financial decision with your mid-size or large company, or if you are needing a single health and safety professional rather than training all of your employees in the ever-so-exciting world of workplace safety, there can be an alternate way to address these workplace safety concerns. Thank to the economy over the last few years, there are actually an influx of health and safety professionals available on the “cheap” – as contractors or consultants. Let us take a look at this idea and how it can benefit your business, large or small, to have one of these professionals available. But we will be clear – there is a difference between a contractor and a consultant, and we will spend a little time explaining each and the roles they may play in your workplace safety initiatives.
A contractor is someone who is essentially an employee without being an employee. When you hire a contractor, you hire him or her at a going rate for any health and safety professional, except you don’t pay benefits and the contractor can be independent. The contractor can work for you and for other companies unless you sign a non-compete agreement. A contractor is a freelance worker who can work his or her own hours and work as much as necessary for you to have your safety program in place and operating effectively. Even though the contractor is paid by your company while it is working for it, it is not beholden to your company to tell you only what you want to hear when it comes to workplace safety; a contractor tends to be an independent, objective voice for sanity in the workplace, as the person works only for himself or herself and has the self-interest to tell the truth about risks in the workplace from a liability and reputation standpoint.
A consultant is little bit different in that a consultant gets paid a consulting fee – usually by the hour – to put into place a workplace safety program, or to essentially audit your existing program and make suggestions of how it can be changed or improved to save the company money on future workers’ compensation claims, lost time from work and possible legal fees should an incident occur. A consultant is not part of your working crew and doesn’t take the position of an on-site health and safety pro, but works off-site and visits on occasion with executives and managers to implement an effective workplace safety program, even conducting training sessions or classes (as needed) to put the program into place using the personnel available.
It is possible for a company to hire a consultant (like yours truly, perhaps?) to help design and train personnel on the importance of a health and safety program, then come back and hire a couple of contractors to implement and enforce the safety initiatives on-site. If you might need or just want some professional insight about health and safety in the workplace, contact me and we can either work out a consultation or it could lead you to good sources in case you are seeking an on-site contractor to implement your existing program. Either way, though, taking these cheaper steps rather than paying and providing benefits for a full-time safety worker can benefit your company in terms of cost savings that just might justify returning to hiring a full0-time safety peofessional in the very near future.
But cutting corners in a bad economy is just asking for trouble to happen, which may end up costing your company more than the elinination of the workplace safety professional from your payroll in the first place.