Safety Saves Money. Here’s How.

Every year, manufacturers lose billions due to unexpected downtime, avoidable accidents, and compliance violations. In the EU alone, there were over 1,500 non-fatal workplace accidents per 100,000 workers in 2022, with the manufacturing sector accounting for nearly one in five of those cases.[1] Each incident threatens not only human wellbeing but also productivity, morale, and margins.

But what if safety wasn't just a legal obligation, but a business advantage? More manufacturers are discovering that investing in safety—from predictive inspections to modern tools—leads to fewer disruptions and stronger bottom lines. Safe workplaces are profitable ones.

Workplace safety has traditionally been seen as a cost: mandatory equipment, training sessions, certifications. But the truth is, a safe plant costs less to run. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), the average cost of a workplace injury in 2023 was $43,000,[1] and serious incidents often bring downtime, reputational damage, and insurance hikes along with them.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can issue fines over $16,000 per violation per day[2]. On top of that, unplanned downtime can cost up to $260,000 per hour, according to Aberdeen Group research.[3]

By contrast, companies that invest in preventative maintenance and safe inspection routines see fewer incidents, lower absenteeism, and higher productivity. Thermal imaging and condition monitoring are critical tools in that equation. They help detect faults before they become failures, and hazards before they lead to harm.

The Price of Not Knowing

Many of the costliest safety incidents in manufacturing don’t come out of nowhere. They give off warning signs. Overheating components, abnormal vibrations, loose electrical connections, compressed air leaks: they’re all detectable, but only if you make use of the right tools.

A recent study[4] shows that 84% of electrical failures can be prevented with early detection methods like thermal imaging. Yet many facilities still rely on reactive maintenance. They wait for a failure to occur before addressing it. That approach leads to higher risks, longer downtimes, and spiralling costs.

Without condition-based inspections, a small fault can escalate into a full-blown arc flash, a machine failure, or even a fire. These incidents not only put people in danger but force production to a standstill, often for hours or days. For a plant running high-value operations, that can mean hundreds of thousands of euros lost in a single event.

Seeing the problem before it escalates is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity.

Compliance Is Just the Starting Point

For many manufacturers, meeting safety regulations like OSHA in the U.S. or the EU’s Framework Directive 89/391/EEC is seen as the finish line. In reality, it's just the starting point.

Standards like NFPA 70B (in the U.S.) now recommend condition-based monitoring and routine inspections to minimize electrical risks. These aren't just boxes to check; they're foundations for safer, smarter operations.

Staying compliant may keep you legal, but it won’t necessarily keep your people safe or your equipment running. Leading manufacturers go beyond compliance by embedding predictive tools into their safety routines, from thermal cameras and infrared inspection windows to acoustic imagers and reporting software. Compliance may help you avoid penalties, but proactive safety will help you avoid accidents.

Predictive Maintenance: Tools, Software, and Training Working Together

Safety and reliability go hand in hand. But to make that scalable across your operations, you need more than a camera. Effective inspections depend on the right tools, the right software, and the right training.

Thermal and acoustic imaging devices are the first step. But without a clear process, and without systems to analyze and communicate the results, insights can be delayed, misinterpreted, or missed altogether. That’s where platforms like FLIR Thermal Studio and FLIR Ignite come in. They help standardize inspections, automate reporting, and ensure the right people get the right data at the right time.

With the right templates and workflows in place, software can deliver timely, relevant insights aligned with your plant’s safety and performance goals. And just as important: inspection tools are only as effective as the people using them. Having a trained team behind the tools ensures your safety investments translate into real operational impact.

Start Your Summer of Safety

When the right tools, software, and training come together, safety becomes part of your everyday rhythm, not just a response to a crisis. But timing still matters. And few seasons put more pressure on your systems than summer.

Higher ambient temperatures increase the risk of overheating components, electrical faults, and premature wear. At the same time, summer is often when facilities schedule essential maintenance, often under tight time constraints and with limited access to equipment.

That makes now the ideal moment to re-evaluate your inspection strategy. Are you equipped to catch problems early, act on data, and avoid unplanned downtime?

Because in manufacturing, safety isn’t a cost—it’s a strategy. And when it’s done right, it protects both your people and your bottom line. Let’s make this a summer of safety and prove that safe plants are truly profitable ones.

[1] https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/work/costs/work-injury-costs/

[2] https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/osha-trade-release/20250114.

[3] Maintaining virtual system uptime in today’s transforming IT infrastructure, Aberdeen Group, 2016

[4] https://www.dynamicinfrared.ca/post/preventing-electrical-disasters-why-universities-need-thermal-imaging-and-dynamic-thermal-imaging and https://www.esfi.org/