Did you know there is direct relationship between safety and staying in business? It’s true. In BC, small businesses that fail after only one year of operation have an injury rate almost three times as high as those businesses that stay open for at least five years.
Based on the latest statistics of small businesses in the tourism industry, WorkSafeBC found restaurants that stayed in business less than one year had an injury rate almost twice that of restaurants that lasted at least five years.
As shown in the table, one message is very clear: the lower the injury rate in the first year of business, the longer businesses tend to stay open.
| Years in business |
Injury rate in first year of business |
| 1 (or less) |
9.7 |
| Up to 2 |
6.8 |
| Up to 3 |
6.6 |
| Up to 4 |
4.9 |
| Up to 5 (or more) |
3.9 |
None of this comes as a surprise to many of the most successful business leaders today. Taking care of health and safety makes good business sense, because it is just one aspect of managing a successful business. WorkSafe BC study confirms this by noting that the injury rate is an indicator of how well a business is managed: “If you have good health and safety, likely the rest of your business is also managed well, and your business will survive.”
In the tourism industry, providing a safe and healthy workplace is one way for a business to protect its greatest resource: Its people. Not only does this create better work environment and boost morale, it can help your business by:
- Retaining good employees
- Improving productivity
- Enhancing customer service
As the statistics suggest, accidents can be devastating for your business. In addition to the direct negative impact of claims costs, increased premiums and fines, there are indirect costs to your business that include:
- The cost of training temporary employees
- Damage to property
- Service interruptions
- potential loss of customers
You can view cost calculations of various worker injuries in the tourism and hospitality industry and even hear what industry leaders have to say about workplace safety at WorkSafeBC's Tourism and Hospitailty Safety Calculator.
