Introduction
Data from the National Council for Compensation Insurance shows the high cost of allowing or even requiring employees to attempt work for which they are woefully unfit, physically and mentally. Physically unprepared because their bodies are not up to the performance requirements of the jobs they are asked to perform; mentally unprepared because they do not know that they are not prepared or, if they do, they do not train for the tasks that are required of them.
In the United States, workers’ compensation costs are highest in California at $3.48 for every $100 in payroll; Connecticut is next at $2.87, followed by New Jersey ($2.82), New York ($2.75) and Alaska ($2.68). The state with the lowest costs is North Dakota: 88 cents. The median figure – $1.85 for every $100 of payroll.
traditional approaches
These costs are a significant burden on businesses, a drag on workforce productivity, profits, job satisfaction, and quality of life—and that’s only a partial list of problems.
What are companies doing about workers’ compensation issues, other than lamenting the fact that they pay so much for on-the-job injuries? Here is a list of thirteen steps that companies take or that consultants and other experts recommend that they take.
1. Return disabled employees to work as quickly as possible.
2. Report only regular wages, if possible, when employees work time and a half.
3. Establish a joint labor and management committee to identify and correct health or safety problems in the workplace.
4. Educate and train employees on safe use of equipment, safe work behavior, and safety procedures.
5. Provide prompt medical attention if an employee is injured.
6. Determine if there is a pattern to such statements.
7. Instruct employees not to take risks.
8. Distribute safety instruction manuals to employees.
9. Hold managers and supervisors accountable for the safety record of their departments and crews.
10. Be careful when hiring.
11. Offer better health insurance to lower workers’ compensation premiums.
12. Classify job descriptions and employee titles correctly, as some classifications carry more risk, resulting in higher premiums.
13. Eliminate workplace hazards that have caused an employee to become ill or injured.
another strategy
Why not take responsibility for ensuring employees are fit for work? Most are not fit for the job, in fact very few are. It is rare to find literature suggesting that employers ever implement prevention or “bottom-up” strategies; As in the thirteen-step list above, almost all efforts are “downstream.” Downstream strategies are those focused on saving bodies in the water, not keeping workers out of harm’s way in the first place, protected from the turbulent waters of weak bodies and unprepared minds.
There is another way that organizations can reduce medical expenses, decrease the incidence of accidents, improve productivity and obtain better results in return to work. How? Engaging employees with REAL wellness programs that go beyond chronic disease management offerings and beyond just preaching about exercise, diet, and stress management.
Companies can insist on fit workers, hire fit workers, train and support fit workers, and reward outcomes linked to fit workers.
The number one risk of accidents and injuries is not random misfortune, malicious acts of God or dangerous conditions in the workplace, although the latter is an inexcusable problem that must also be addressed as a matter of priority. The number one risk of high workers’ compensation costs is that people are unfit for their jobs. Specifically, they are not trained to perform and maintain the musculoskeletal functioning required by most 8 to 5 or other work schedules.
Workers must receive extensive training on the nature of a genuine and wellness-worthy musculoskeletal fitness, how to achieve, maintain, and develop such fitness, and how to understand the risks of such fitness. Of course, different types of jobs require different levels of fitness, and these variations must be understood and applied to specific work environments. Each work station should be assessed to determine required musculoskeletal fitness levels.
A thorough program might include musculoskeletal evaluations and job evaluations, depending on the scope of the jobs:
* manual handling.
* Cope with existing conditions.
* strength and flexibility.
* skeletal alignment.
* body fat percentage and aerobic fitness.
Summary
Australian fitness and wellness expert John Miller describes a system for the prevention and treatment of what he calls “personally generated body system dysfunctions.” His work has shown that a high proportion of employees with back pain have a fitness problem: their weak, tight muscles have allowed the pelvic bones and then the vertebrae to slip out of alignment. To quote Coach Miller, whom I have seen in action in Canberra, “Only on the rarest occasions is back pain caused by a lack of rubbing, crunching, heating, vibration, taping, doping, or surgery.” Or, phrased in the trainer’s inimitable Australian chatter, “Expecting to be in good musculoskeletal health without keeping fit is a big task. It’s also a big task to expect to get better if someone does something to you. Sooner or later, you have to do something to yourself.” same”.
Feel good, look on the bright side, and take care of yourself.