Your health and safety program is probably doing pretty well. You are OSHA compliant, the proper signage hangs on the walls, the best PPE gear is worn, and everyone goes home to their families after work. In general, your workplace is fairly safe.
But do your employees ever complain about fatigue? Discomfort? Do you have costly OSHA recordable injuries on a regular basis? Safety managers and supervisors can easily be overwhelmed. It’s a big job and the clock seems to move at the speed of light. Sound familiar?
If so, you aren’t alone. Musculoskeletal injuries and disorders are the single largest category of workplace injuries and are responsible for almost 33% of all worker’s compensation costs. (source: BLS)
The cumulative human and financial cost of these injuries is staggering. Companies spend billions of dollars on medical costs and lose billions more on lost productivity.
Workers have to deal with a painful injury and possibly surgery, prescription medications and all of the other side effects from this unnecessary experience.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that these costly injuries are preventable. We encourage our clients to be proactive. To think prevention. To constantly push themselves, their company, us and every person in their workplace to reduce causative risk factors and prevent these unnecessary injuries.
Why?
Beyond simply doing the right thing, the value proposition of creating a culture of prevention and improving human performance is that it is a competitive advantage for your business and a more fulfilling experience for your employees. This creates a positive cycle that propels your business and people forward. Because of this, we often say that prevention is good for your business and great for your people.
Prevention is good for your business.
Study after study shows injury prevention, improved human performance and wellness lowers costs and improves productivity.
In other words, injury prevention and enhanced human performance improves business performance. Productivity goes up. Employees are engaged. Creativity and energy flows. The market responds because your company has enhanced what is arguably its most critical resource – its human capital.
This all leads you down the path of better business outcomes. Do the right thing. Reduce costs. Increase productivity and performance. Who doesn’t want to do that? After all, the success of your business is in the hands of your people.