In occupational safety, the Iceberg Effect refers to the fact that there are huge costs to consider when an accident occurs onsite that are not always easy to see. Just like an iceberg, there are obvious costs that you can easily see above the water. But, like an iceberg, most of the massive costs are hidden below the water.
ABOVE THE WATER
Above the water are the initial, obvious and visible costs of an accident. Depending on the severity of the accident, an employee may miss work for a few hours, days, months or may not be able to return to the job at all. The organization may owe a significant amount of workers comp & other fees.
Average Cost Estimate: $2,000-20,000
BELOW THE WATER
However, below the water there are all the indirect, hidden costs that an accident might trigger.
- Cost of investigating an incident
- Increase in insurance costs
- Training a temporary replacement
- Potential lawsuit and legal fees
- Productivity and morale loss of employee & team
- Negative publicity
- Lost contracts and damage to customer relationships
Like an iceberg, what is below the water is much more than above.
Indirect costs can be up to 4-10x higher than initial costs
Avoid the iceberg all together by investing in proper and thorough safety programs, cultivating a culture of safety, acquiring proper PPE and training up front. Initial costs may seem higher, but this will save money in the long term. It will also ensure that workers feel safe and go home uninjured.
Browse our PPE here.
