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September / October 2008

Post Offer Screens:

Are they Right for Your Company?

When you hire someone, it’s often difficult to tell by looking at them if they can safely perform all aspects of the job, particularly those jobs that are very physically demanding. These jobs may include material handlers, patient care givers, construction workers, laborers, etc. The Post Offer Screen (POS) is a tool that is commonly used to provide employers with the information they need to hire well. Essentially, the goal of a POS is to better match the worker to the job by determining if they can safely meet the essential physical demands of that job. It can also reduce the number of musculoskeletal injuries such as back injuries, sprains and strains, tendinitis, etc. Musculoskeletal injuries comprise the majority of workers comp claims and costs. These injuries cost US organizations $45-54 BILLION dollars a year in Work Comp costs. That is a very significant amount of money to spend on injuries that are almost all preventable. Additionally, the costs associated with these musculoskeletal types of injuries are higher than with other types of injury (i.e.: slips, trips, falls, lacerations).

So why consider implementing a POS? One reason for many organizations is to improve the retention of new hires. Companies often spend 10’s of thousands of dollars hiring and training new employees, but according to the US Department of Labor and Statistics, only half of new hires are in the job 6 months later. The majority of the other half of new hires either quit or are fired. These hiring mistakes cost employers a lot of money. For example, the cost of hiring workers at the $20,000 level is estimated to cost $40,000. These costs include wasted salary, benefits, severance pay, headhunter fees, training costs, hiring time, and wasted business opportunities. One way to minimize the costs of bad hires is to use effective post-offer screening.

Another reason to consider a POS program is as a way to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs. Up to 40% of Workers’ compensation claims are made by employees in their first year of hire. These new hires are often at greater risk for injury because they lack the physical condition necessary to meet the demands of the job for which they’ve been hired. They often over-exert themselves and use poor body mechanics to compensate for their lack of ability. This can result in an expensive, OSHA recordable injury.

So, is a POS program right for your organization? Well, take a look at your injury data. One way to do this is to look at your OSHA 300 logs for the past 3 years. Look in particular for musculoskeletal injuries such as sprains, strains, back or neck injuries, shoulder/elbow/wrist tendinitis, etc. (Not so much slips, trips, falls, etc.) Calculate the number of employees who are injured in their first year of hire. If it seems that there is a disproportionate amount of injuries occurring amongst new hires, then a POS program may be an excellent tool to counteract these injuries. Next, how many employees are injured in each job position? Are there certain job positions that have a higher injury rate? If so, these may be the job positions that you want to target for a POS program. Every individual hired for that position will have to first pass a POS. Then look at the costs of these injuries you just identified – this will help you to understand the magnitude of the problem and help you down the line to justify the costs of implementing a POS program.

Next, look at employee turnover. How many of your employees quit or are fired within the first year of hire? A high rate of turnover may indicate a poor match of employee to the job. A POS program will definitely help better match the employee to the job in a couple of ways. First, the employee will have demonstrated the physical capacity to safely meet the demands of the job. Second, the employee will have a very good understanding of the expectations of the job. Many people accept a job offer, but don’t really understand all that is involved. Once they start, they realize that it is different than they expected. They may become quickly dissatisfied with the job and are more likely to quit. Employee turnover costs organizations a lot of money. If possible, estimate the costs associated with hiring and training new employees, the costs of lost productivity after an employee is terminated and any other costs. This will also help you in justifying the implementation of a POS program.

In summary, a POS program may be right for your organization if:

Significant number of employees are injured in their first year of hire, and/or
High percentage of injuries for a particular job position or in a specific department, and/or
High injury severity or injury cost for a particular job position
High termination/turnover rate.

Would you like more information on how to implement a POS program? Look for that in the next CISonsite newsletter, or find out more information by contacting CISonsite at (866) 298-1312 or jpanozzo@cisonsite.com.

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What’s HOT in Ergonomics:

Beware of Blackberry Thumb

New repetitive stress injury caused by typing with thumbs on hand-held devices

Originally Posted June 15, 2008

By Serena Gordon Sunday, June 15 (HealthDay News)

It's rare these days to see a teenager without a cell phone in hand, texting for hours at a time, seemingly without health consequences. But, when older folks attempts to spend the day e-mailing, instant messaging and surfing the Web on a handheld device, repetitive stress injuries -- such as "Blackberry thumb" -- are much more likely to occur.

Dubbed "Blackberry thumb" because of the popularity of that particular model of wireless personal digital assistant (PDA), this repetitive stress injury occurs because these devices rely almost solely on the use of your thumbs for typing, instead of all your fingers.

"Blackberries and other PDAs can cause tendonitis from working in such a small space with the thumbs," explained Kristen Crowe, a certified hand therapist with Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. "The problem is that people are doing the same activity for long periods of time that the body just wasn't meant to do. Teens seem to do OK with it. It's around age 40 or 50 the 'itises' start to crop up."

Margot Miller, president of the American Physical Therapy Association's Occupational Health Special Interest Group, added: "Because the keyboard of the PDA is so small, and because the thumb, which is the least dexterous part of the hand, is overtaxed, the risk of injury just skyrockets."

Symptoms of "Blackberry thumb" include pain and numbness in the thumbs and joints of the hand.

"...first suggestion is to take a break from the device for just a little while. If it's painful, switch your activity until you feel rested. Don't try to work through pain thinking it will go away. Take a vacation if you can." It was also recommended that icing be done to the injured area and doing strengthening exercises once the pain subsides. Ask your physician or physical or occupational therapist to show you what to do.

"Just use common sense. Be smart with your use -- shorten answers and just use the devices when you need to. And, if you feel discomfort, stop using it and get in to see a physician," he said.

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Think Safe! Safety First for Autumn Yardwork

Adopted from Mayo Clinic Embody Health

Autumn is right around the corner. With it comes crisp, clear days, changing leaves….and chores. From cleaning the gutters to trimming the trees, here’s how to play it safe.

Ladders

Do a safety check each time you use your ladder. Check for sharp edges, bend steps, splits, cracks, loose rungs and missing parts.
Use common sense. Use ladders only on level surfaces.
Don’t use a ladder in strong winds or prop it against a movable object.
Don’t place a ladder near power lines.
Never stand on the top three rungs of a straight or extension ladder.
Take turns. Don’t climb a ladder if someone else is already on it.
Move the ladder as needed instead of reaching too far to the side and risking a fall.

Chain Saws and other Power Tools

Let gas-powered tools cool for 30 minutes before adding fuel.
Wear the proper clothing for the job. When using a chain saw, for instance, wear a helmet wit face and eye protection, gloves, protective pants and work boots with steel toes.
If you’re cutting down a tree, keep people and pets at least two tree-lengths away. IF the tree is very tall or broken, call a professional.
Turn the engine off as soon as the job is done.
If you’re tired or distracted, don’t use a chain saw. Save the project for another time.

Lawn and Garden

Keep pesticides, weed killers and other chemicals out of reach of children and pets.
Store them in their original containers and follow directions exactly.
Store garden tools, such as shovels or shears, where children can’t reach them.
Store sharp equipment pointing down inside a rack or storage container.
When cleaning gutters, keep a minimum of 10 feet away from overhead power lines

If you've missed any of our previous newsletters, check the Archives

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