Our workplace wellness post is submitted by Darien Hawkins of ROIwellness. He was first introduced to you during my interview with him and his business partner Christina. Here he gives some simple "penny wise, pound foolish" insight on injuries at work.
What does a worksite injury really cost?
$ loss of production due to days missed at work
$ low morale
$ worker's comp payouts
$ the burden of having other team members pick up the slack of the fallen comrade
$ the cost associated with hiring and training a new team member to fill the empty position
$ and the most obvious the increase in your companies yearly health care premium cost.
The
Occupational Safety and Health administration (OSHA), claims that it
has been estimated that employers pay almost $1 billion dollars per week
for direct workers' compensation cost alone. According to the 2011
Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, the most disabling workplace
injuries and illnesses amounted to more than $50 billion in direct U.S.
workers' compensation costs in 2009.
These cost
aren't worth the price tag especially when the solution is a simple one
- Injury and illness Prevention ! An investment in an injury and
illness prevention program will go along way in-terms of your companies
bottom line, but most important you are investing in the safety and well
being of your organization's most precious resource your human capital.
Healthy workers make more cents!
Source: Making the Business Case for Safety and Health- OSHA.gov
Source: 2011 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index [PDF* - 677 KB, 2 pages]. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, (2011).
