A sudden visit from OSHA. A very large fine. An unexpected expense. That was the start of a terrible, no-good day for a construction company that found itself having to immediately outfit 3,000 employees with special protective gloves.

"If I owned that company," says Julie Bickman. "I would have wanted to spread out that expenditure over months or years. Instead, they are hit with a double whammy—a big outlay, a big fine."

Bickman is president and CEO of Arbill Safety Products, a family-owned distributor based in Philadelphia. It was Julie's dad, Barry, who realized in the late 1960s that attention was turning to safety at the workplace, and that the formation of The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was imminent. What had started 20 years earlier as an industrial work glove company would soon be reorganized into a total safety products supplier. Now, "Team Arbill" counts safety audits as one of its specialties.

"Sadly, it's an inspection, an accident or litigation that is the big awakening for many companies when it comes to safety," Bickman says. "They just don't understand until they are hit with a visit or a fine."

And so begins the safety education process, with the help of distributors, manufacturers, independent reps and trade associations. Companies may need guidance in writing standard operation procedures, or they may request more specific help, such as fit-testing for respirators. Safety consultants step in, often partnering with each other for a wider breadth of knowledge and expertise.

"It's our job to ask our customer probing questions, identify what areas need help, and give them a comprehensive plan for what needs to be done to bring them into compliance," says Bickman. "We're trying to immerse our sales teams not only in site audits but also in compliance programs."

If OSHA or the Environmental Protection Agency were to visit that customer the next day and see an area of exposure, the company would be covered if a safety plan was in development, according to Bickman. It would be wise, she advises, to act on that plan, as a state or local regulator will likely be back in 90 days to make sure the work was done.

That kind of value-added analysis is part of the way Arbill and its suppliers work together to make sure the end user has what he needs. Once an area of need is defined, Arbill conducts compliance training at a charge.

"You can't just ask a customer, 'Are you covered for fall protection?' They usually say, 'Oh yes, all set,'" Bickman says. "You need to let them know the ANSI [American National Standards Institute] standards, the regulations, and then work on the relationship so the customer can trust you."

George Hayward, president of United Sales Associates, agrees that it's hard for companies to keep up with standards that change frequently.

"Everyone is stretched, margins are tight, and let's face it, we all need to make a profit and the profit is more in product than services," he says.

But, he adds, someone, somewhere has to fill a big need, and that is informing the end user of safety issues.

Hayward's manufacturers' rep firm, based in Cincinnati, has four product line specialists with expertise in hand and fall protection products to do just that. Twenty years ago, the rep firm had five employees; today it has 30. The staff checks emergency eyewash stations for its customers, performs surveys on flammable containers, does on-site hand protections surveys, and trains distributor personnel on how to handle safety objections.

"All we can do is suggest and recommend product to our customer. It's up to the person in charge at the job site to make sure they are in compliance," Hayward says.

Richard Reese, a specialist in fall protection/confined space, has been in the industry for 35 years, the last six of them with USA.

"I work with what I call 'occupational athletes,' and those athletes are getting a little older, and perhaps are not as in shape as you would hope they would be, so accidents will happen," says Reese.

Choosing the right fall arrest system is paramount for workers who make their living hundreds of feet off the ground. What workers and employers may not realize is that just six feet off the ground, fall protection equipment is required and must be part of their toolbox. According to Reese, falls are the number one killer in construction.

"The average worker on the job could care less about rising insurance rates for their company—it's not something they see in their paychecks," according to Reese.

What they do care about is seeing a live fall and its often devastating effects.

"When I arrive at a job site with my trailer and do a drop test, they have a much better appreciation of what I am trying to do—prevent an accident from occurring in the first place," Reese says.

Reese also visits local union halls, safety councils, employer associations and builders exchanges, mixing in the good stories with the bad, to push the safety message to safety directors.

"I'm busier today than I have ever been in the past," he says. "There are 20-plus guys like me doing trailer demos on the road for DBI/SALA. There is continuity in what we present because we all do the same training."

As part of the training, companies view an hour-and-a-half demonstration and, depending on their needs, may take part in a four-hour training class or spend four days at a manufacturer's training center.

Kathy Petrick, president of Samsel Supply, has worked with Reese and manufacturer DBI/SALA's demo program to show her customers how harnesses have become easier to wear.

"Fall protection has only been around 10 to 15 years, and workers still think of it as clunky, bulky," says the Cleveland-based industrial distributor. "A lot has changed."

"There are still people that say, 'we never needed fall protection before, and we were safe.' Now, risk management needs to be taught 'yes, you've done it a million times that way, but today the wind is blowing a different way,'" she adds.

Petrick says many falls happen at smaller companies, perhaps because they are not as well monitored.

"They may not inspect a sling to see that it has frayed. When you have a screwdriver that is bent, you replace it! Same goes for safety equipment," she says.

Samsel Supply's value-added package to its customers includes inspections on equipment.

USA's Hayward agrees that smaller builders' safety practices may not be monitored to the extent of a large government job. Public construction typically can be more concerned with safety issues, he says.

But small or large, young or old, Arbill's Bickman emphasizes the need for a comprehensive safety program.

"Some very large companies can leave themselves open and vulnerable," says Bickman.

How do you motivate end users to use the right safety equipment? Personal, sometimes tragic stories, can usually invoke vivid imagery and get companies to listen. Positive accomplishments, such as increased morale and more production, are inspirational as well.

For USA's Hayward, it's all about conscience.

"People want to do the right thing. They don't want something weighing heavily on their mind," he says. "We're not sitting around like the Maytag guys. We are in demand because people want to be proactive in avoiding injuries."

Spiraling insurance rates and OSHA fines can stir some companies to take action. Safety violations may have penalties up to $7,000, according to OSHA. Repeat and willful violations may have penalties as high as $70,000.

Because of the costs and dangers, national accounts customers are focusing more and more on their safety requirements, says Cheri Anderson, director of SafetyLink, a new division of Afflink Business Solutions that is dedicated to safety supply.

"Adding safety to our basket of services helps us serve our end user with a greater number of solutions," she says.

SafetyLink distributor partners are independent distributors that consult with customers on their safety needs to develop a safety program, providing local delivery and support.

"We're not just selling product, we're selling a 'full package promo,' and the distributor benefits from our negotiating and buying power," says Anderson. "They become holistically better to serve the end user."

Afflink, based in Tuscaloosa, Ala., also serves the sanitation, packaging and health care markets. Launched in January 2004, its SafetyLink division is credited with $25 million in sales in its first year.

Expediting training for distributors and manufacturers is critical to any safety mission, says Dan Shipp, president of the International Safety Equipment Assn.

"When we equip salespeople with what they need to know to improve health and safety, they truly partner with the purchaser and end user," he says. "They are not just using an order pad and asking 'what do you want to buy today?'"

Participants in the Qualified Safety Sales Professional program, sponsored by the Safety Equipment Distributors Assn. and ISEA, gain an understanding of the complex regulations imposed by OSHA, the EPA and other agencies. Fundamentals in risk management, safety engineering and workers' compensation are discussed in the week-long course, which covers confined space, fall protection, lockout/tagout, head/face/eye protection and ergonomics.

Considering the cost of lost-work time involved with any injury, and the profit that the company has to produce to pay for that injury, it's "just cheaper to do it right," Shipp says.

"Salespeople not only need the broad training in personal protection equipment, but also the technical and regulatory information," Shipp adds. "They may not have all the right answers, but we can help equip them with all the right questions to ask."