Our Blog.

SAFETY = PROFIT At Your Rental Store

I know what you are thinking! Safety is nothing but a cost to a rental store.
I'm hoping I can change your mind and prove to you that safety can improve your bottom line.
Before we dive into examples of how safety can generate you more dollars, let's keep in mind what the objective of safety should be.
A well designed safety program has the ultimate goal of allowing you, your employees, your customers and your suppliers to go home in the same physical, mental and emotional condition they came to work in. A truly great safety program may even transfer that culture home, allowing you to keep family and friends of employees safe.
If you are looking for help with your safety program at your rental store, feel free to contact Five Bo Inc. We can help you reach that next level in safety and make it part of your culture.
So back to making money with safety..... Here are just some examples of how you can use safety to increase profit.

Operator Training

This first example is an obvious one. Offer operator training to your customers.
Courses run $175-250 per person and courses typically max out at 10-12 people. $3000 a day for a course that costs you only time.
Not only is this a great revenue stream, it also fulfills your requirement to ensure your customer is competent to operate the equipment they rent from you. If you don't offer or ask if the operator is competent, you are putting yourself at risk!
So not only can you generate revenue, you can also reduce the risk of liability.
Courses are not limited to aerial work platforms. Skidsteers, excavators, wheel loaders, forklifts, telehandlers, heaters, power distribution, trench shoring and ATV products all offer opportunity to train.

Employee Efficiency

Injured employees are not as efficient and healthy employees. Even small injuries can affect how well an employee does their job. A twisted knee or strained back can put a driver, mechanic or wash bay attendant out of commission. That forces you to find another employee, give someone else overtime or use an untrained person in that role.
Experienced and trained employees do their job faster and keep your customers happier. If they don't get hurt, you don't have to sacrifice customer service.

Safety supplies and equipment

Most rental houses offer gloves, dust masks, ear plugs, safety glasses and goggles for sale. In most cases, this is an add on to an existing rental and your success is dependent on your counter staffs ability to sell and your skill at displaying 'point of sale' product.
Why not try and sell pre-packaged bundles of these safety products? A bag consisting of a couple pair of gloves, glasses, masks and some ear plugs. Set it up in your system under one part number and only charge the customer for what they use. It may result in only a pair of $5 gloves being sold, but it may also earn you $20 on the entire package. Plus you may save your customer a cut, scrape or piece of debris in the eye.
Remember to also make the more expensive safety equipment available for sale or rental. Items like chainsaw chaps, hard hat with visor an ear protection, fire extinguishers, hose whip checks, wheel chalks, hard hats, ATV helmets, aluminum ramps and safety harnesses.

Be aware of safety trends and legislation

I can think of three lines of equipment that became huge rental opportunities as a result of safety issues which translated into legislation.
Trench shoring is a growing market for rental houses. The days of 'two by fours' and plywood are going away. Engineered trench shoring is required in almost every jurisdiction in North America.
Construction safety fencing is another product that has evolved from plastic to steel self supported 8 x 10 panels. Construction companies want to keep the public out of their sites but also block off open excavations.
A final example is light towers and lighting in general. Years back in Western Canada, a fire and fatality at an oil rig resulted in legislation which required 4 times the amount of light needed per rig. Overnight the light tower market increased dramatically.
Those who understood the new requirements took advantage.

Pre-qualification requirement

Several years ago I spoke at the ARA Rental Show Seminars. Our session was titled something close to "Regulatory Compliance in the Rental Industry". The title didn't draw a huge crowd, but message is an important one.
In many states and provinces, your safety record is requested before you are allowed on a customers site. This typically applies to larger industrial sites but some smaller contractors with a strong safety culture are starting to require a low injury rate of suppliers.
I personally know of rental houses that were disqualified from bidding on rental packages because their LTI or TRIF was too high. In other words, the customer felt the rental house was "too dangerous" to be on their site.
So by having a poor safety rating, you can lose business.....

Sell your safety culture

If your company lives a culture of safety, why not sell that as a competitive advantage. If there are two rental houses in your town and your company has gone 3, 5 or 10 years without a recordable injury, let your customers know. Construction companies appreciate the effort it takes to keep employees safe. Even cash customers will frequent your business if they feel safer renting from you. It could be in how clean and tidy your yard is or how well your counter staff explains how to use the tool. It all adds to you safety culture.

Insurance coverage savings

A lower injury rate can also reduce your cost of insurance coverage. The example I use is Worker's Compensation Board premium rebates given in the form of a cheque for good performance in parts of Canada. It is a great surprise to get a cheque back for keeping your employees safe.

Equipment damage

Safer employees don't only keep their bodies safe, they also don't damage as much equipment. Safe work practices, training and common sense can reduce equipment accidents and damages. Less damage means lower cost of doing business. Biggest example involves your delivery and sales vehicles. One vehicular accident can cost you $5000-50000.

Of course, their is always a cost to building a safety culture, but I hope I have demonstrated how that investment can help your returns.

Ultimately, you want to make sure your employees leave their place of employment able to play with their kids, participate in their favourite sport/activity or just enjoy their life away from work.

If looking for help to get your rental company to the next level - give us a call at Five Bo Inc.

Together, let's make our industry better and safer.


JimBo