Medical and scientific organizations have a lot going on behind the scenes. Not only do you have to protect your patients’ data according to more and more stringent standards, you need to keep your employees safe and make sure your business is sustainable. All of these are constant background requirements even before you and your staff can get to your primary services of keeping your customers healthy and making reliable analyses.Radiation safety glasses can help with all of that behind-the-scenes work. They aren’t just tools that help protect you and your staff’s eyes from radiation damage, even though that is their primary benefit. Radiation safety glasses also protect your business, keep your company growing, and bolster your reputation. Here’s how:

3. Keep your business’s risk valuation low and your professional liability lower.

Insurance is one of the largest expenses that businesses have to face, especially if your company specializes in medical services or medical technology. Not only do you have general commercial liability, you have professional liability (or errors and omissions) coverage and the increased likelihood of staggeringly expensive claims. Your business needs that coverage, but insurance companies might think your business is a risky venture. With the right safety equipment and internal policies, you can change their minds.

Having higher safety standards than the bare minimum makes your business safer to insure.

Insurance companies evaluate the risk your company represents through a long list of factors. They might look at everything from the history of liability claims made against your business or your employees to how often you update your equipment. Insurance agencies that specialize in your niche are generally well-versed in the safety requirements you’re held to, and operating at a higher standard is a great way to make your company look less risky.The United States doesn’t yet require radiation safety glasses in professional situations where employees are exposed to concentrated levels of radiation. But making that requirement for your own company shows you value employee safety. It also means your employees are less likely to need costly eye exams, surgeries, and treatments for any eye damage caused by exposure. Requiring that employees use radiation safety glasses along with mandated safety equipment can help insurance companies trust you more, especially if they’re providing company medical insurance.

Regularly circulate new equipment.

While having a policy in place is a great start, it’s only as safe as your glasses are. Make sure you have the specifications for your supply of radiation glasses so you know their protection is as strong as, or stronger than, the radiation they are meant to defend against. Your company’s radiation safety glasses should offer the protection equivalent to a 0.75 mm thick sheet of lead. If they don’t, or if the frames are so outdated or bulky that employees think they’re too inconvenient to use, then it’s time for new glasses. The purchase is further evidence that you focus on employee safety, and it also makes your employees more likely to comply with the policy.

Reduce the risk of claims for unsafe advice or actions.

Just because the government doesn’t require the use of radiation safety glasses doesn’t mean your company is safe from a related claim. All it takes is one employee saying it’s safe to be around fluoroscopy and x-ray equipment with radiation safety glasses: it isn’t safe, but safety protocols aren’t federally mandated.Because your business is in a technical or professional field, it can be held liable for negative developments as a result of advice or actions. Instead of trying to regulate speech slips or informal explanations, which can happen or be misconstrued even in the best of circumstances, just make eye protection required. Misunderstandings happen, and long-term eye problems can happen as a result.Even if your company is not in the wrong and a claim is settled without hurting your business through fines or civil penalties, it still cost you or your insurance company legal fees that could have long-term implications on your rates and insurability. Oftentimes, the best policies are concrete policies, and mandating safety equipment protects everyone.

4. Investing in long-term employees means protecting their health, not just growing their experience.

Employee retention is better for business than hiring and firing. Your employees are trained professionals who know precisely how your business operates and there is a growing element of trust that lets you focus on growth, innovation, and more. Gaining new employees isn’t always bad, especially if you’re expanding your business, but you don’t want to lose employees through health problems or negative experiences.

Market yourself as a good employer.

Prospective employees can generally get a feel for which companies care about their employees fairly early in the application process. Depending on the size and recognition your company’s brand carries, you might already have a certain reputation as an employer. The best reputation you can have doesn’t involve being able to pay the most; it’s based on who takes the best care of their employees through good culture, good benefits, and good management practices. If you have a professional staff that focuses on safety and has comfortable, high-quality safety equipment, those are the details job searchers are looking for. Being known as a good employer means you have a wider pool of talented applicants to choose from.

Protect employees.

Once you have good employees, don’t let them go. Lab technicians and radiologists who don’t wear safety glasses can develop vision problems in less than a decade, and that can start to impede their work and life. Those who work near concentrated doses of radiation and wear full safety equipment stay in the career field longer, can do work more quickly and accurately, and experience more satisfaction with their job. Because of this, they’re also more likely to specialize and open up your company to more specialized work.

Keep your employees’ health insurance rates low.

An old health maxim is that an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. While the saying might be tired, it’s true. The better your employees protect their eyes from the very beginning of their employment at your company, the less likely eye problems are to develop. This is good for business, and it’s also good for your company’s health insurance rates. Too many cases of early onset cataracts and eye problems don’t just hurt the company’s health insurance bill. Some of that extra cost will show itself in your employees’ insurance rates, too, and that might force them into leaving or getting rid of their individual vision coverage.Eye damage from radiation exposure is cumulative, but it’s never too late to implement a crucial eye safety policy. Get the radiation safety glasses you need at Phillips Safety Glasses here. Not only do we have eyeglasses with high-quality ocular protection, we have a wide variety of frames and wrap-around glasses so each of your employees is protected.