3 ways defective equipment can harm your business

Business owners are always looking for ways to save on costs, especially when it comes to expensive workplace equipment. However, overusing older equipment or failing to perform routine maintenance has the potential to result in defective equipment. And when this happens, it can reflect poorly on your company in a number of ways.

1. It can put your people at risk of injury

Many workplace accidents occur because a piece of machinery is defective. While some occasional accidents are inevitable, accidents due to defective machinery are always preventable. Accidents caused by defective machinery can lead to serious injuries for employees, and they also may lead to fines or lawsuits for your company. When any type of equipment is recognized to be defective or not working properly, a safety tag should be affixed to the piece of equipment noting that it’s defective and warning any employee who encounters it. A worker who suffers an injury due to defective equipment may go beyond a simple worker’s compensation claim and file suit. And depending on the nature of the accident, you risk facing OSHA fines and violations as well.

2. It has a negative impact on worker productivity

Whether you choose to repair or replace equipment, it’s important that you take actionable steps to address it. This is because defective equipment slows down productivity and harms your bottom line. Even a defect that seems minor, like an oven that needs to be switched off periodically, so it doesn’t overheat, has an amplified impact over time. By quickly addressing equipment defects, you can minimize the impact that defective equipment has on your business. And since defective equipment usually will continue to decline, it’s usually in your best interest to address it as soon as possible.

3. It can damage your business’s image and reputation

Defective equipment can also harm your company image. This is especially true of customer-facing ventures. For instance, if you run a food establishment and a given machine is constantly broken, word is likely to spread, and business is likely to suffer. Many business owners don’t want to shell out money for repairs, but they also fail to consider what defective equipment is costing the business in the long run.

Bottom line

While nobody wants to work with defective equipment, not everyone realizes the potential damage it can have to your company. With some consideration of both short-term and long-term costs (and with some consideration of employee well-being), you’ll realize that repairing or replacing defective equipment is paramount when it comes to running an efficient and successful business.