September 16, 2026 | Mark Paradies

Why Do Companies Spend Money on Safety Training?

Cost of Accidents and Investments in Safety Training

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that in 2023 U.S. companies spent $171 billion on direct and indirect costs due to nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses. Internationally, companies spent an estimated $4.8 billion on safety training.

So you might think that companies invest in safety training to try to save some of those direct and indirect costs. And that may be at least partially true. But what other reasons do companies have to spend money on safety training? Here are some examples…

Other Reasons to Spend on Safety Training

#1 Regulatory Requirements: Regulators may require initial or continuing safety training for operators or maintenance people. For example, the OSHA 10-hour and 30-hour cards are basic hazard awareness classes that may be required by states or localities. Another example is the MSHA requirement for 40 hours of initial training for new surface miners (sand, gravel, stone, lime, and cement operations) and 8 hours of annual refresher training.

There can also be requirements for job- or site-specific training such as scaffolding qualification, confined space entry, fall protection, or other PPE requirements.

Regulatory fines may also drive companies to require more safety-related training (to avoid future fines, or to get a reduction in a fine when they schedule a particular course for their employees).

#2 Company Improvement Efforts: Training is often part of a company’s safety performance improvement efforts to prevent SIFs or improve human performance. This often includes proactive efforts to have operators and mechanics make fewer mistakes, recognize potential hazards, and adopt better safeguards while performing work.

#3 Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis: Many leading companies have adopted advanced root cause analysis (beyond 5-Whys and cause-and-effect tools) as part of their efforts to prevent future incidents and even larger accidents. Advanced root cause analysis can be used reactively to investigate accidents and precursor incidents, or proactively as part of audits/assessments or learning team improvement efforts.

They may also require this specific advanced root cause analysis training for their contractors or suppliers.

Is the Training Worthwhile?

The return on investment for safety training can be hard to measure. Collecting statistics can be difficult, and linking improvements to the training can be even more difficult.

However, we link the success of our advanced root cause analysis training to the Success Stories from TapRooT® RCA Users. See a sample of the Success Stories HERE.

Learn More About Advanced Root Cause Analysis

System Improvements offers several root cause analysis courses to help companies find root causes and improve safety and human performance.

First, our most popular course is our 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Training. In just two days, participants learn to apply essential techniques to investigate precursor incidents and develop effective corrective actions. We can provide this training at your site, at a public course, or virtually as a 3-Day Course. Get more information about this training HERE. See the dates and locations of our public 2-Day TapRooT® RCA Courses and 3-Day Virtual Courses HERE.

Second is the more comprehensive 5-Day TapRooT® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader Training for people who will investigate precursor incidents and lead teams investigating more complex, serious injuries and fatalities. The more extensive training includes:

Advanced interviewing techniques,
Human performance improvement ideas,
Optional root cause analysis tools (Change Analysis, CHAP, and Equifactor® Equipment Troubleshooting),
Proactive use of root cause analysis, and
Many more practice examples and use of the TapRooT® Software.

This training can be provided at your site or at one of our public 5-Day Courses held worldwide. For more information about this training, CLICK HERE. See the dates and locations of our worldwide public 5-Day TapRooT® Courses HERE.

We also have a course more oriented toward troubleshooting equipment failures that may lead to safety incidents called the Equifactor® Equipment Troubleshooting and TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course. It can be conducted as a 2-day on-site course or a 3-day virtual course. See the upcoming public courses HERE.

Another useful course for companies looking to improve human performance is our Stopping Human Error Course. To schedule a course at your site, contact Alex Paradies by CLICKING HERE or calling 865-539-2139.

Finally, as a pre-Summit Course being held on April 5-6, we will have a new course titled “Learning Teams & RCA for Proactive Improvement.” This course explains how to use the learning team format, combined with advanced root cause analysis, to develop effective human performance strategies that proactively prevent accidents. CLICK HERE for more information about this new course.

Advanced RCA, Human Performance Improvement, and Operational Excellence (High-Reliability)

Every 18 months, System Improvement sponsors a 5-day conference that begins with an optional two days of advanced training, followed by 3 days of networking, benchmarking, roundtables, and performance-improvement talks by experts. This conference is called the Global TapRooT® Summit.

The name “The Global TapRooT® Summit” reflects the worldwide participation of TapRooT® Users at this conference, which focuses on improving root cause analysis, human performance, equipment reliability, safety (SIF prevention), operational excellence (high-reliability organizations), and continuous improvement. Even though many TapRooT® Users attend, there is plenty for those not trained in TapRooT® RCA to learn. Here is more about the Summit…

We held our first Summit in 1994 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. See the Summit history HERE.

At the time, no other conference covered these topics (especially root cause analysis and practical human performance improvement). We like to say that we were leading human performance improvement before it was cool. And we believe we still offer the best networking, speakers, and best-practice sharing of any conference anywhere. That’s why we offer this amazing guarantee:

Attend the Global TapRooT® Summit and return to work ready to implement a clear roadmap to success. We’re so confident in the value you’ll gain that we back it with our guarantee: if you don’t save at least 10 times the cost of your Summit fee, simply return your materials and we’ll refund 100% of your registration.

This year will mark the 29th Global TapRooT® Summit, to be held on April 5-9 at the Margaritaville Resort, Lake Conroe, near Houston, Texas.

The Summit starts with the choice of one of seven optional 2-day pre-Summit Courses:

Learning Teams & RCA for Proactive Improvement
Equifactor® Equipment Troubleshooting & TapRooT® RCA
Effective Interviewing & Evidence Collection
Analyzing & Fixing Safety Culture
Advanced Presentation Skills
TapRooT® Software & AI Training
TapRooT® RCA Training

Then, on Wednesday-Friday, the Summit begins with five Keynote Speakers (two on Wednesday, two on Thursday, and one on Friday),

six Best Practice Tracks with 33 sessions (see the complete schedule HERE),

2027 Summit Best Practice Breakout Tracks

the Name Game networking opener,

the Wednesday night reception (a Western-themed Honky Tonk),

the Women in TapRooT® (W.I.T.) get-together,

and the TapRooT® Advisory Board Meeting and dinner.

What types of companies send people to the Global TapRooT® Summit? Here are a few examples to give you a better idea…

Here’s what four of the participants from the last Summit had to say…

Bring your improvement team to the Summit and experience the benefit of having a team aligned to use best practices to improve your company’s performance. Plus, receive up to $900 OFF per participant.

Don’t miss this advanced learning and networking opportunity. It only happens once every 18 months, and it is never the same (always new things to learn and new people to meet).