When employees are not working for an extended period of time and then suddenly return to their regular duties, a significant increase in injury rates is a virtual certainty.
What’s the last thing you want to deal with after the COVID-19 Crisis is over? Most likely, at the top of your list, is an explosion of injuries among returning workers.
When considering applicants for physically demanding jobs, it’s hardly surprising that most hiring managers think ‘strength’ first. After all, if work requires heavy lifting, carrying and climbing, applicants lacking the musculoskeletal capacity to perform those tasks probably aren’t cut out for that kind of work. But there’s more to physical ability than muscle and bone.
A bad hire for a physically demanding job results in decreased productivity, higher turnover and greater risk of workplace injury. Physical Abilities Testing makes the hiring process much simpler for those charged with the task of hiring new employees, especially in physically demanding industries like transportation, logistics and distribution, utilities, manufacturing and construction.
When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) passed down the final rule that would eventually require employers to electronically submit all of their employee injury and illness data, it garnered a lot of attention. We discussed the rule and its potential impact and implications in depth last year. Since then, OSHA has proposed that the original start date of July 1, 2017, be delayed until December 1, 2017. Additionally, the rule has faced legal troubles of its own. For now, OSHA says it will launch its web-based form, the Injury Tracking Application (ITA), on Aug. 1, 2017. The ITA will allow employers to electronically submit required injury and illness data from their completed 2016 OSHA Form 300A.
Although the new recordkeeping requirements for workplace injury and illness set forth by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) have been delayed until further notice, keeping a close eye on workplace injuries means employers will be ready when the changes take effect.
If your business hires workers for physically demanding jobs – and if your business is manufacturing, warehousing or transportation, you probably do – reducing the risk and expense of workplace injuries is a priority you can’t afford to ignore. And while accidents are sure to happen, 63 percent of the top ten workplace injuries identified by Liberty Mutual Research Institute are exactly the kinds of mishaps that pre-hire Physical Abilities Testing (PAT) is designed to help prevent.
As the opioid epidemic continues to widen in the United States, it’s important to recognize there are steps employers can take to help curb new cases. In a recent blog we discuss how addressing the underlying cause of pain or injury with first aid and physical therapy, rather than simply treating the symptoms with opioids, is not only a more effective treatment method for the injured worker, it’s also one that avoids the considerable risks associated with their use.
The use of opioid painkillers has skyrocketed to epidemic levels in the United States in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were enough opioid painkillers prescribed in 2012 for every American to have their own bottle (almost 260 million prescriptions). Opioids are highly addictive, and taking them can lead to dependence and overdose, which is now the primary cause of accidental death in the U.S.
