ReportWire

Tag: safety at work

  • How Tariffs Are Making Workplaces More Dangerous

    [ad_1]

    Recent data on consumer spending ahead of the holiday season suggests that price increases from import tariffs may already be reducing shoppers’ purchases. But another, less obvious effect of duties may also make it less safe to go to work. According to a new report from a trade association representing construction, manufacturing, energy agriculture, medical, and other companies, many member businesses are delaying procurement of workplace safety materials made abroad. That adjustment to higher costs risks creating a downstream effect of potentially rising accidents on the job.

    The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) says many businesses that rely on personal protective equipment (PPE) as a workplace safeguards are buying less of it. Imported first-aid kits, respiratory protectors, high-visibility clothing, and even steel-toed work boots are among the many items that now cost more, according to ISEA. A survey of association members blamed the purchasing cuts on those higher outlays since import tariffs were imposed. The move not only increases the risk of injury for the 125 million employees who use those materials to ensure their protection on the job. It also exposes their employers to greater threats of accidents that already cost U.S. businesses $176.5 billion each year.

    According to “The Hidden Costs of PPE Tariffs “report, the ISEA says import levies are forcing many businesses whose employees face higher risk of workplace mishaps to make a very hard choice. Either they pay the increased costs of protective equipment that duties have created immediately, or scale purchasing plans back in the hopes customs taxes will be lowered over time — or perhaps be overturned by a looming Supreme Court ruling.

    In most cases, business owners have decided to bide their time.

    Nearly 60 percent of companies surveyed said they’d delayed planned purchases of safety materials, “in many cases using PPE far beyond its useful lifespan.” Another 41 percent of participating businesses said they’d sought to offset the higher costs tariffs have generated by switching to cheaper made, often less effective protection equipment.

    The reason? Fully 93 percent of respondents reported their costs for safety materials have risen since import duties were announced in April. By contrast, the study didn’t establish a figure for the average increase of PPE prices under tariffs, or even offer an ballpark percentage of those hikes.

    However, it did find 90 percent respondents believe that companies cutting procurement of costlier PPE materials “will have a negative impact on the safety” of workers. But faced with choice of paying more now or waiting to see if tariffs decrease, many employers have decided to take a calculated risk.

    “Workplaces will cut corners to accommodate the extra costs,” said one unidentified ISEA member cited in the report. “They’ll use PPE too long, buy inferior and less protective PPE, and not use PPE when they should. We haven’t yet seen the full consequences.”

    The report projected how the resulting increase in workplace risks might play out.

    It warned that if “worker injuries increase by just a single percentage point, over 40,000 workers will be injured on the job, costing the American economy $1.8 billion.” That’s on top of the $176.5 billion accidents already cost companies each year. ISEA CEO Cam Mackey called that a tragic waste in more ways than one.

    “When tariffs make it harder to afford quality protective gear that keeps workers safe, everyone pays the price,” Mackey said in comments about the report’s release this week. “This isn’t about politics. It’s about protecting the people who make America run — the workers building the infrastructure that keeps our cities moving, manufacturing the machinery that defends our nation, powering the energy systems that drive our economy, and caring for our families. Ensuring their safety should be a national priority.”

    Injuries aren’t the only way higher PPE costs are affecting business owners and employees. The survey found 44 percent of participating companies — which collectively contribute $15 trillion in annual GDP growth — have already delayed hiring plans in reaction to rising costs, including those of safety materials. Another 33 percent of respondents said they’re considering doing likewise.

    Release of the report is part of the ISEA’s continued drive to convince the Trump administration and members of Congress to exempt PPE and other safety materials from import tariffs. Doing that, it argues, would prioritize the protections of U.S. workers exposed to workplace risk by sparing their employers the cost of trade war duties.

    “Businesses don’t want to cut corners on safety,” said Mackey. “But when costs rise and budgets tighten, difficult choices follow. We’re asking policymakers to help prevent that situation before it starts.”

    The early-rate deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, November 14, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

    [ad_2]

    Bruce Crumley

    Source link

  • AI Might Just Make the Workplace Safer. Here’s Why

    [ad_1]

    Much of the focus on artificial intelligence now centers on its actual and potential capability to improve business productivity and profitability, and its threat to automate countless employees out of their current jobs. But a new analysis of workplace safety data broadens the scope of AI’s likely impact, estimating that the new technology could lower occupational injuries by an average 6 percent annually over the next five years.

    That forecast was the top finding from a recent study by Arizona injury law firm Lambert Goodnow. It crunched years of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, World Economic Forum, and other organizations to make two important conclusions. The first was that nearly one-third of all current work tasks are expected to be automated using AI by 2030, at an average rate of 22 percent across all economic sectors. The second was that as a result of that tech-driven change, accidents in U.S. workplaces are anticipated to decrease by nearly 6 percent each year over the same period.

    “The predicted automation of 30 percent of tasks by 2030 is expected to reduce U.S. workplace injuries by 5.9 percent, preventing approximately 161,000 injuries annually within five years,” the Lambert Goodnow analysis said, noting improvements will vary considerably across different jobs and business activities. “(W)hen looking at an industry-level breakdown, some of the most dangerous are likely to only become 2 (percent) safer.”

    The study examined workplace injury rates in various sectors and industries in both public and private businesses — a blend that makes some comparisons challenging. But its overall conclusions show the AI safety improvement trend will likely affect a much larger number of employees than the forecast’s percentages of declining incidence might suggest.

    For example, injury rates at private healthcare companies are expected to drop by 6.3 percent through AI automation. While that decrease is only slightly higher than the expected 5.9 percent U.S. average, “this change could prevent nearly 30,000 injuries annually at the national level,” the report said.

    The study noted that forecasted the rate at which tasks are automated with AI over the next five years vary significantly across business sectors. They ranged from as much as 40 percent by administrative, support, waste management, remediation, professional, scientific, and technical services, to as low as 22 percent in arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food businesses.

    But using a historically substantiated calculation that a 10 percent increase in automation has typically produced a 2 percent drop workplace injuries, the report said safety gains from AI would be considerable across industries and individual businesses, regardless of their adoption rates.

    Still, the study indicated the biggest beneficiaries of AI workplace safety improvements are those likely to integrate it fastest over the next five years. But even sectors that are slower to embrace the new technology are expected to see injury rates drop. Those include agriculture, forestry, and fishing businesses; real estate, rental, and leasing companies; and finance, management, and insurance firms.

    Similarly, the report said sectors with lower potential for introducing AI tech are still expected make significant workplace safety gains in simple human terms.

    “Arts, entertainment, and recreation, for example, is predicted to see a 4.3 percent drop in injuries,” the study said, noting that would be 1.5 percent lower than the national average. “A 1,600 drop in injuries annually in the industry is, however, still an impressive figure.”

    Despite the forecast of increased AI-linked safety improvements over the next five years, the report said the tech won’t eliminate the risks in businesses or sectors whose activities lead to higher injury numbers in the first place. It also won’t alter their individual incidence rates to the same degree.

    “Four of the ten most dangerous (professions) have low automation potential and are likely to remain at least 97 percent as dangerous as they are today.” the study said of businesses whose large workforces will limit how much their injury per 100 employees rates decrease. “For example, while the national average injury incidence rate is projected to fall to 2.29, the rate in state-run nursing and residential care will only fall to 8.7, which is close to four times higher. Others, like couriers and scientific professional services, are far more automatable, but also are significantly larger than some others on this list.”

    Still, even small declines in accidents from AI automation translate into thousands of employees being spared injuries and deaths that would have happened otherwise.

    [ad_2]

    Bruce Crumley

    Source link