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Rockwell's Calculator Tool Provides ROI Estimates for Safety Automation

ControlDesign.com
01/16/2012

Engineers, plant managers and environmental, health and safety (EHS) professionals now have a tool to calculate the potential annual return they'll receive if they invest in an integrated safety automation system. Rockwell Automation developed the complimentary Safety Return on Investment (ROI) Tool with J.B. Titus, a machine safety consultant and owner of J.B. Titus & Associates.

The new web-based tool, launched Nov. 14, 2011, at the annual Rockwell Automation Safety Automation Forum, addresses manufacturers' need for a tool to help quantify potential savings and productivity gains from new investments in safety.

An upfront investment in safety programs and safeguarding systems can help significantly reduce the financial and employee impact of incidents in a manufacturing facility, according to Mark Eitzman, Rockwell's safety market development manager. "Engineers, plant managers and EHS professionals have struggled to accurately cost-justify investments in safety," he said. "With the new Safety ROI Tool, they can calculate the costs of an incident and see the financial benefits of implementing a proactive safety program."

To help simplify the previously complicated process of assessing ROI costs and benefits, the tool combines injury and productivity data, and collects input from users in five categories:

1. Estimated project amount, i.e., cost of controls, software, installation and training. 
2. Overall equipment effectiveness, based on increases in machine availability because of reduced unscheduled downtime and increases in manufacturing output.
3. Increased capital-asset depreciation.
4. Direct injury costs, such as medical expenses, wages and worker's compensation costs.
5. Indirect injury costs, e.g., regulatory noncompliance fines and repair costs.

The tool also allows users to adjust the ratio of indirect-to-direct injury costs from 1:1 to 14:1, or to enter zeros for indirect and direct injury costs, based on company requirements.

Rockwell Automation aims to continuously update the tool to keep it relevant for users and plans to add a category for quality improvement.

Register to access the tool, which is optimized for smartphones and tablet PCs.