Safer Spaces and Places: The Advantages of Illness and Injury Prevention Programs
The only way to save worker’s compensation programs is to reduce workplace injuries and promote a culture of health within an organization. Here’s what employers, managers, and workers can to do make a difference today.
For Employers
Gather and Organize Data On Existing Injuries
Before you implement a new plan, it’s a good idea to know what the existing data says about injuries in your company.
If you don’t have data on this yet, start collecting it. Looking at the actual numbers helps you figure out who is getting hurt, under what circumstances, and how to develop a segmented list so that you can address serious safety issues within your company.
Data collection can also reveal injuries that require hospitalizations or that may be causing premature death.
You should divide data into fatal and non-fatal injuries. Fatal injuries are obviously the most serious and need to be addressed immediately. But, non-fatal injuries can also take a tremendous toll on your workforce, especially when it comes to worker’s compensation.
Identify The Target Injury Population
Who gets hurt in your company more than the general population? Are there workers who have inherent challenges (e.g. disabilities) that are more prone to injuries than others? Are there people who have inherently more dangerous jobs than the general workforce?
Now, analyze this across the industry. Do these types of workers in other companies face similar challenges and injury rates? The first dataset tells you about injuries in your company. The second dataset allows you to compare those injuries to the industry as a whole.
Together, you can determine whether it’s an industry-wide problem or a company-wide one.
Take note of how often specific injuries happen, how many people they involve, and over what time period.
Design and Determine Intervention Protocols
Once a robust dataset is gathered, it’s time to design solutions to the problem. Interventions should be focused on minimizing or eliminating the source of the injury. If that cannot be done, you should improve the safety of the area where people are injured or provide additional safety training to help compensate for the inherent danger of the job.
For example, if a worker must expose himself to a fall risk to clean windows, there is little you can do to mitigate this, but you can improve the safety of the scaffolding he uses to do his job.
On the other hand, if a worker is injured on a forklift because there are no signs, mirrors, or dedicated pathways for pedestrians and heavy machinery, the floorplan, and perhaps the entire building, needs to be redesigned to eliminate the injury risk.
Educate Everyone
Educate everyone on the new safety protocols and make sure that every employee has a copy of changes to existing protocols. Constant and periodic continuing education is necessary to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to safety.
Evaluate The Program And Revise As Needed
Periodically adjust and revise your program to account for changing demographics or new safety issues discovered by employees. Every 6 months, review your protocols and see if they need to be changed or updated. And, maintain an “open door policy” for employees, so they feel comfortable coming to you with suggestions.
For Employees
Ben McKenzie shares his head injury via Instagram
Always Follow The Rules
If your company’s safety protocols were designed properly, it’s difficult to get injured if you simply follow the rules. If you do notice violations, report them immediately.
If you see something which is fundamentally wrong with the safety protocols, bring it to the attention of management and request a meeting to explain exactly what’s wrong with the current protocol. Bring numbers and a proposal to change the safety protocol to your management team.
It’s likely that management will want to conduct a formal study, but being able to show hard numbers at least proves that there is a problem.
Speak With An Attorney If You’re Injured
Don’t be afraid to speak with an attorney if you’re injured. According to these Denver Attorneys, many accidents happen on the job, and it’s the employer’s responsibility to carry worker’s compensation and liability insurance.
In addition, if you’re injured, you may be entitled to money for hospital bills and other extraordinary expenses not covered by worker’s comp. If the employer was negligent, you may also have a case.
The important thing is to understand your rights under the law and what you’re entitled to. Make sure you’re treated fairly, because your employer will have lawyers working for him.
Guest Author :
Michael Sawaya is the Managing Senior Partner with The Sawaya Law Firm. He is a Colorado native. He was born in Trinidad but moved to Denver when he was 3 years old. He attended the University of Colorado for his undergrad, and attended Texas Techs Law School, where he graduated with his law degree. In 1989 he began specializing in personal injury cases. He is a big advocate for the rights of individuals who have been injured because of the poor choices of others.
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[…] Safer Spaces and Places: The Advantages of Illness and Injury Prevention Programs – Here’s what employers, managers, and workers can to do make … Speak With An Attorney If You’re Injured Don’t be afraid to speak with an attorney if you’re injured. According to these Denver Attorneys, many … […]