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.
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.
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.
Recently, we have been looking at how Physical Abilities Tests can help mitigate compliance, operational and financial risk. In this post, we’ll address the ways that Physical Abilities Testing can affect an organization’s reputation.
Just as the pedometer took over the workplace wellness initiatives of recent years, wearable technologies continue to make their way into the industrial workplace. In 2015, we reviewed some of the latest tools to be developed in an effort to increase workplace safety. As with everything else technology-related these days, the creation of these tools moves fast and furious, and there is already a slew of new tech-based tools appearing in factories worldwide, as recently noted by the Wall Street Journal.
Slips, trips and falls (STFs) can result in dangerous (even fatal) and costly outcomes. While these types of injuries can occur in many workplaces, there are certain industries that experience a higher incidence of STF’s:
If you’re looking to prevent warehouse workplace injuries, an ergonomically designed workplace and structured ergonomics training for employees is a great place to start. However, if your injury prevention program begins and ends right there, you're missing out on a key strategy that has been proven to reduce workplace injuries and the expenses that go with them: Physical Abilities Testing.
Employers who invest in workplace health and safety programs are seeing measurable results in the reductions in workers' comp injuries, and as the numbers of employers making those investments has risen in recent years, nationwide rates of many common types of on-the-job injuries have fallen. However, according to an article published by Risk & Insurance Magazine, shoulder injuries are a notable exception to that trend, with some workers' comp experts seeing an upward tick in lost-time claims for these injuries. Others are seeing rates of claims for shoulder injuries remain stubbornly constant, even as the frequency of lost-time claims for injuries to most body parts fell by an average of 13.9 percent.
Musculoskeletal injuries are a major issue in the beverage industry. According to a study done by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), this industry has significantly higher rates of occupational accidents and injuries than the manufacturing industry as a whole, and more than double the private industry rate. Additionally, NIOSH states that nearly three-fifths of injury and illness cases in the beverage industry were serious enough to require time off from work.
