Safety programs can save companies more than the cost of equipment and procedural training mandated by the federal government. According to a recent report from the National Safety Council, work-related injuries cost over $131 billion each year. The dramatic rescue of nine miners in Pennsylvania in July put a spotlight on job safety requirements and procedures.

Now, the NSC is investigating the incident, which happened in an admittedly high-risk work environment. However, whether the work is notoriously dangerous or not, every employer needs to have in place a comprehensive safety program, said Julie Copeland, vice president of sales for Arbill Glove & Safety Products, a distributor and manufacturer of safety equipment. When customers realize that safety programs not only put them in compliance with laws but also save substantial money in the long run, the choice to begin or extend a program is obvious, she said.

A comprehensive safety program is perhaps the most important purchasing decision for customers, said Bob Kingman of Safety Source Northeast in Sturbridge, Mass. If one piece of equipment or one safety procedure is missing, it will inevitably come back to haunt plant managers, Kingman said. That is where the safety system will fail in a crisis.

Kingman, co-chairman of the education committee of the Safety Equipment Distributors Assn., said safety specialists are in the best position to assess and fulfill program needs.

"We support strong, specialized distributors, particularly in safety, to sell complete programs. It's an important issue," he said.

According to SEDA, education is paramount, not only about products and their uses but about government regulations that come from agencies like OSHA and EPA.

United American Sales, Inc., headquartered in Wilmington, Ohio, is a safety equipment master distributor. Salespeople should start with basic personal protection equipment and move on to more complex safety equipment from there, according to president Joe Sodini. Distributors that cover the basic product groups, and add more products over time, will bring customers into an ongoing relationship with a safety specialist.

"Whatever is used in plants - from machinery to vehicles - has to have safety protection. So, begin with hearing, eye, respiration and perhaps head protection and go from there to build a program," he said.

PPE products are the mainstay of specialized safety distributors, but they must also be price-conscious. General line distributors do not have the volume to be competitive if the specialist is buying and selling correctly, Sodini said.