Today's economy is taking its toll on businesses everywhere.Whether you are in manufacturing, service, or construction, youcannot help but feel the impact. Unemployment rates continue toclimb as both large and small business owners struggle to survive.Lay-offs and budget cuts are an everyday part of business. Jobs andcustomers are scarce and the competition is fierce. Clients todayexpect the best for less. That pushes companies to compete for ashrinking customer base while trying to maintain the highest levelof product quality and employee safety.

Unfortunately, many employers still view safety as an expenseand the safety budget and/or staff is usually one of the first toexperience cutbacks. This, despite research that has repeatedlydemonstrated the economic value of a strong workplace safetyprogram. When safety truly is "job one," the result is feweron-the-job injuries, which means lower workers' compensation costs,which means a lower experience mod ratio, which means lowerinsurance premiums, which means significant savings to the bottomline.

During the "good" years, when the economy was soaring, mostmid-sized and large companies enjoyed a full safety staff andsafety-related expenditures were approved with little or no debate.That's not the case today. Many companies have reduced their safetystaff and are approving expenditures only for critical items. Theremaining safety personnel find themselves with increasedworkloads, increased responsibility, and an uncertain future.