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March / April 2007

Minimizing Injuries - One Step at a Time

Step 1 : Making Sense of Your Injury Data

Most organizations truly want to minimize workplace injuries. But for many, the task can be over-whelming. This article is the first in a series of four that are designed to help break this task down into manageable pieces. By taking this approach, it will be easier to identify cost-effective solutions for injury reduction.

The first step in injury reduction is to analyze your organization's injury data. Gather the OSHA 300 logs for the past three years and tabulate the following information:

Total number of sprains and strains of the back.
Total number of sprains and strains of the neck, arm, and hand (including tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.).
Total number of slips, trips, and falls.
Total number of "other" injuries.

Next, use the OSHA 300 logs to tabulate the number of injuries by department , and then by job position . Below is a sample of an injury data collection:

OSHA 300 Log Analysis

Whole Company	Back Sprains & Strains	Neck/Arm/Hand Sprains / Strains	Slips, Trips and Falls	Other Injuries	Total
2004, '05, '06	25	51	15	5	96
Department
Warehouse	6	3	2	1	12
Loading Dock	12	4	10	1	27
Assembly	2	25	1	1	29
Packaging	3	13	1	1	18
Office	2	6	1	1	10
Job Position
Material Handler	13	3	10	2	28
Forklift Driver	5	4	2	0	11
Packer	2	25	1	1	29
Assembler	3	13	1	1	18
Desk Clerk	2	6	1	1	10

Breaking down your injury data into this format is very informative. It can help you to decide where to concentrate your injury prevention efforts.

In the example above, "Neck/Arm/Hand Sprains and Strains" constitute nearly half (51 of 96) of all workplace injuries at this organization. Therefore, a comprehensive and aggressive program to address these types of injuries throughout the workplace may result in dramatic reductions in total OSHA recordables and their associated costs.

For many organizations, implementing an injury reduction program one department at a time is a more feasible approach. Using the example above, it looks like the "Assembly" department would be an excellent place to start, as 30% (29 of 96) of all injuries occur in this department.

In other organizations, it is more realistic to implement an injury reduction program one job position at a time. Using our example, the position that has the most injuries is the "Packer" with 29 recordables. By addressing this position, it may be possible to reduce about 30% of all injuries in the workplace.

Regardless of the approach your organization takes - the next 3 steps are the same: Ergonomic Analysis, Education, and Enforcement . These steps will be outlined specifically in the next 3 issues of the CISonsite Newsletter - so stay tuned!

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Promoting Wellness in the Workplace

Workplace health promotion is an investment in your organization's most important asset - your employees. Employees who are in good physical and psychological health are generally more productive, have less absenteeism, and demonstrate a higher level of employee morale.

Wellness Wheel

In addition to improved productivity and reduced employee turnover, wellness programs have proved to be an effective tool in slowing the growth of an organization's health care costs. In a study of 8,334 Proctor & Gamble employees, those who participated in the health promotion program had 29% lower healthcare costs than those of non-participants.

The Wellness Councils of America has identified the seven best practices (called "The Seven C's") for employers to follow when building a comprehensive and effective worksite wellness program.

Capture Senior-Level Support : Commitment from the top is critical to the success of any wellness program. Management must fully understand the benefits of the program for both the employee and the organization. They must provide the resources to make it happen.
Create a Wellness Team: Wellness teams should have representation from all potential program participants including management, occupational health, and employees. Their goals are to get "buy in" from management and the participants, develop a program that addresses the needs of the participants, and oversee the organization's wellness efforts.
Collect Data that Drives Health Initiatives: Gather baseline data from employees. This may involve health risk assessments, claims analysis, and surveying employees to find out the various types of initiatives they would be interested in.
Craft an Annual Operating Plan: This should include a mission statement along with measurable short-term and long-term goals and objectives.
Choose Appropriate Health Initiatives: The health initiatives you choose should address the prevailing risk factors in your employee population and be in line with what both management and employees want from the wellness program.
Create a Supportive Environment: Provide employees with encouragement, opportunity and rewards.
Consistently Evaluate Your Outcomes: On a regular basis, take a close look at your goals and objectives and determine if you have achieved the desired result. Celebrate goals that have been met and make changes to address ineffective initiatives.

Talk with your organization's insurance company about "health and wellness" programs that they may offer free of charge to your employees. Also, contact CISonsite for any educational programs that you would like to offer your employees to promote better health.

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Think Safe! The Dangers of Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation afflicts 47 million American adults. This lack of sleep can affect coordination, reaction time and judgment - all of which can contribute to accidents - both at work and away.

Drivers are especially vulnerable. One study states that 16 to 60 percent of road accidents involve sleep deprivation and that driving in this condition can be as bad as driving while under the influence of alcohol. Additionally, more than 200,000 auto accidents happen each year because drivers fall asleep at the wheel.

In the workplace, shift workers tend to suffer more sleep deprivation than others - many members of this group only average 5 hours of sleep a night.

People who get too little sleep are affected both emotionally and physically. Emotionally, this group of people may have higher levels of stress, depression, and anger and may take unnecessary risks. Physically, those who are sleep deprived have a weakened immune system which makes the body prone to infections, diabetes and possibly cancer. Additionally, adults who sleep less than 6 hours a night are 23% more likely to be obese - this can lead to a whole other set of problems.

So how much sleep do you need? Different people need different amounts of rest and the right amount of sleep for you is the amount that allows you to awake refreshed and have energy throughout the day. Here are some guidelines:

You're probably getting enough sleep if you don't need an alarm clock to get you up in the morning.
Note how long you sleep after you've been on vacation for a few days. This is probably the right amount of sleep for you.
People ages 16 to 65 typically require 6 to 9 hours of sleep a night. Experts typically recommend eight hours of sleep a night.

In our next newsletter, we will address good sleep habits and provide tips to help relieve sleep problems.

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Our programs assist employers in reducing their OSHA recordables and Worker’s Compensation claims, cost and injuries. We offer a variety of customized programs to fit each employer’s unique needs.

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Our case managers work with employers and insurance companies to proactively manage the care of an injured worker through the entire case management process from injury to return to gainful employment.

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