Six Safety Actions to Reduce New Risk
By Michael D. Zblewski
U.S. manufacturing got off to a sluggish start in 2025, with industrial production up only 0.3% as of June, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve — compared to the long-term average of 3.49%. Whether you work in fabricated metals or machinery, global unrest and strained supply chains are squeezing budgets. That can lead manufacturers to make tough decisions — some of which can increase safety risks.
According to Sentry’s 2025 C-Suite Stress Index, 97% of executives admit to putting off upgrades to business equipment (48%) or technology (47%) due to cost pressures, while 48% compensate by asking employees to work longer hours or take fewer breaks. These “wait-and-see” tactics offer a level of flexibility in the interim, but quite often introduce risks that could outweigh any short-term savings.
When safety takes a backseat — whether it’s skipped training, stretched teams, or delayed maintenance — risks often show up later in the form of injuries, downtime, or rising workers’ compensation and insurance costs. These outcomes can have a lasting impact on a business, especially in times of economic uncertainty. Below are six actions you can take to create a culture of safety without sacrificing profitability.
Actions to Reduce New Risk
When the economy is unpredictable, you still have control. Balance safety, productivity, and cost savings to build and maintain a culture that most importantly protects people, operations and promotes long-term financial health. Start with simple checks.
- Focus on low-cost, high-impact actions. You don’t need big budgets — start with these simple checks to reduce daily risk:
- Reinforce use of personal protection equipment (PPE).
- Keep welding booths clear of combustibles.
- Maintain tidy grinding stations.
- Conduct walk-throughs with safety committee members to check for — and remove — trip hazards.
- Hold daily huddles or informal check-ins with employees and line management to prioritize safety and accountability.
These low-intensity, high-impact actions help develop — and enforce — a strong safety culture even when spending is on hold.
Effective safety meetings don’t have to be long or formal. A quick review of a recent near-miss incident or sharing lessons learned from another facility can prompt valuable conversation and encourage ownership among all workers through creation of location-specific solutions. Give everyone a voice. When workers see their input taken seriously, such as when their observations or proposed solutions are implemented, they’re more likely to take individual safety responsibility more seriously.
2. Encourage communication and supervisor visibility. Workers often look to supervisors to provide clear direction, understanding, and verification of workplace safety expectations and communications. Communication about shift changes — whether to a new break schedule, increased output demands, or changes to a specific process — matters more than ever. Supervisor visibility on the floor to enforce safety expectations and practices sends a clear signal that safety matters, especially during busy shifts and tight production deadlines. Supervisors should:
- Communicate expectations early and often.
- Maintain clear, consistent messaging.
- Stay visible and model safe behavior.
- Spot and intervene on unsafe behaviors or signs of burnout.
- Conduct regular training checks and, when possible, have workers demonstrate their understanding.
- Keep workers engaged and aligned with safety expectations.
Directly involve and recognize experienced employees in your safety communication strategy — they have the power to mentor and model safe behavior and help hold everyone accountable.
3. Use data to guide daily decisions. Manufacturers can identify problem areas before they escalate. Review safety and injury data to recognize trends in:
- Types of injuries.
- Days of the week.
- Near-miss reports.
- Certain points within the production and process schedules.
- Workstation incidents.
For example, if fatigue-related incidents are on the rise, it may be time to rotate employees more often or adjust break schedules. If certain challenges — or injuries — show up repeatedly, spend time to uncover the root cause and reassess the overall effectiveness of your training program, equipment or task design. Take a focused look at the data to find small changes that can make the biggest difference.
4. Double down on training. When schedules tighten, safety training can get pushed back, or even eliminated, and that decision comes with a certain level of risk. Commit to and continually build on safety training from day one, and plan for an extended worker onboarding and orientation schedule that:
- Includes a training calendar detailing their first week, month and quarter.
- Pairs new workers with trusted and experienced mentors.
- Establishes ongoing check-ins, toolbox talks, and hands-on demonstrations for verification of knowledge transfer.
Invest more time up front and integrate safety training into ongoing expectations to:
- Set, reinforce, and maintain standards.
- Increase peer-to-peer accountability.
- Reduce confusion when changes occur.
- Make it easier for workers to recognize risks and implement solutions.
- Build workers’ confidence to ask for help when they need it.
- Celebrate small and big wins — all are important.
5. Prioritize preventive maintenance. Enforcement of simple maintenance habits and processes can go a long way to keep operations efficient and safe. For example, keeping evening schedules can prevent loss of focus that can happen during unplanned disruptions. Work with supervisors, teams, and leaders, to identify issues before lost-time breakdowns or injuries occur. Plan to:
- Identify critical equipment and common signs of danger, such as failing guards, loose foot pedals, or delayed blade shutoffs.
- Conduct regular equipment, workstation and facility inspections.
- Report wear or damage immediately.
- Set and keep scheduled service.
6. Crosstrain to plan for staffing gaps. Every team faces coverage challenges — whether it’s vacation, illness, or a production crunch. Cross training builds flexibility so teams can adjust without scrambling. Having a few employees who can float between roles helps reduce stress and maintains safety and production standards, even when people are out.
Don’t Let Safety Slip
For manufacturers, building and supporting a strong safety culture can help lower risk and signal reliability to insurance partners. In fact, many insurers will look beyond incident counts and evaluate how proactive a company is in managing their risk. Building, documenting, and adhering to strong safety habits is critical to protecting workers and long-term insurability.
About the Author: Michael Zblewski
