Human Costs of Accidents

All good training should pay for itself over time, by the reduction in waste, increase in performance and the added value we may see in our workforce.

Well trained staff are more likely to stay, reducing staff turnover, they are also more efficient at their job and present a better image of the organisation to outside companies.

Poorly trained staff are more likely to make errors. If these errors are contained within the workplace, there is less impact on the organisation, if they happen outside the workplace, they are not only damaging to the company, but could be catastrophic to the individual concerned.

There are two main costs associated with accidents, human and financial, some of these costs are easy to quantify, others less so.

Listed below are some of the human costs that may arise from an accident involving one of your vehicles, we have already looked at the financial costs previously.

When a serious road traffic accident occurs, its not as easy to calculate the human suffering as it is to work out the financial costs following that accident but here are some that you may not have thought of:

• The fact that an employee or another member of the public is killed or seriously injured has a real heartfelt impact on all members of staff. Production and morale may be seriously affected
• Staff will take time off to comfort the loss of a staff member, or make visits to them in hospital or when recovering, all this puts strain on those left behind who may have to work harder to make up for the loss of key staff.
• Imagine the impact of having court cases or potential prosecutions hanging over you? Even worse, what about having to attend a coroners court over a death?
• You may have lost a key member of staff either on a temporary basis or a permanent one, how do you feel when you may have to tell staff or family members of the loss or injury?
• How often do you see a sign in the back of someone's family car that says "Dads taxi" ? Imagine if the sole breadwinner was also the only driver in the family, now without a car how much family life is changed, a trip to the shops, taking the children to school, family holidays?

These human costs are very difficult to quantify, but their true costs are much more expensive in real terms than cash, it should be everyone's aim to reduce the likleihood of accidents occurring through good training and effective management