Don’t Let your Employees Return to Work ‘Broken’

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

When an employee gets hurt on the job and goes on Worker’s Comp, they usually just end up sitting at home all day long waiting for their injury to heal so that they can go back to work. In most cases, the employee’s regular job is a very physically demanding one that keeps them fairly healthy. But when they get injured, their job becomes a far more sedentary one. This sudden shift to a sedentary lifestyle can be detrimental to their body and overall health, including a wide spectrum of different types of diseases and disorders affecting all parts of the body. Some of the risks can be increased by as much as 50% or more.

A few examples of these risks include:

  • Musculoskeletal Disorders: Low Back Pain, Osteoarthritis, Bone Fractures, Connective Tissue Tears, Osteoporosis
  • Cardiovascular Disorders: Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), Congestive heart Failure, Atherosclerosis (Hardening of Arteries), Coronary Heart Disease, Hypercholesterolemia (High Cholesterol), Cardiomyopathy (any disease affecting structure and function of heart)
  • Metabolic Disorders: Overweight, Obesity, Diabetes
  • Cancer: Breast, Colon, Lung, Prostate
  • Pulmonary Diseases: Emphysema, Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis
  • Psychological Disorders: Depression, Mood, Anxiety

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The Rights Tools and Education Can Help You Save!

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

Do your employees have the right tools for the job? Are their tools ergonomic, do they fit right, and are they the right ones for the specific task they are performing? Some research suggests that the improper use of tools at work can cause musculoskeletal disorders. This can lead to lost time at work and costly worker compensation claims. Implementing a program to prevent these injuries is extremely important. Larger companies realize the need for safety programs and so should smaller businesses. Work related injuries for big or small companies can severely damage your profits.

Tools are marketed in many different ways. Some say ergonomic and some say ‘impact resistant’ or ‘lightweight.’ All of these descriptions sound beneficial! But what if the workers hand is too small for that handle, or because it is so lightweight it really does not do the job effectively? When the tool fits, or is the right tool for the job, there is less risk of injury or repetitive injuries to your employees. When tools get used improperly, a whole list of risks pops up. Your employees may develop carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis or muscle strain.

Here are some considerations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to help you select tools that are ergonomically correct for the employee and the job:

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Is Football Contributing to Work Comp Fraud?

Author in the Reduce Current Costs category

What better thing to do on a Sunday than have a BBQ at home, watch some football, and then maybe go and toss the ball around. Going in for that interception! Tackle!

Did you know that work comp fraud is rising, and faking that football injury as a Monday work related injury could cause your employee to go to jail and/or be fined?

California employers in the insurance industry, District Attorneys, and an anti-fraud campaign are all playing a very important role in protecting your premiums and trying to keep these crimes down. As an employer, it is so important to keep both eyes peeled when employee injuries come about immediately after a weekend.

Unfortunately, there are people out there looking for free ride and we encourage you, the employer, to pay special attention after a claim has been filed.

Did the employee report the injury right away? Can they remember all the details of the accident? Were there any  witnesses? Also watch for changes in their story, or if you find they are doing activities that are not consistent with their injury. Finding out that your “injured employee” finally finished that kitchen remodel is very suspicious. If your employees hurt themselves at work and want to get better, they will attend all the necessary appointments.  Missing appointments can sometimes be reason to suspect fraudulent activity.

All these activities do not mean they are being fraudulent, but as an employer you always need to be on your toes and protect yourself, and your business, against workers trying to make an extra buck on at your expense.

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Get Your World Turning

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

Let’s get this straight you have employees that:

  1. Have a specific job goal
  2. Are willing to participate
  3. Have a deficit of their physical, emotional, functional, and occupational abilities
  4. Are at the point that a modified work program would not be prohibited

Are they at home collecting dust? Goodness, I hope not! Let’s get them in a modified program. Get them up, get them moving, and then put them into a work hardening program.  The Health and Wellness Rooms and Work Hardening Programs numbers do not lie, your employees will be up more than 50% faster than if they participated in self recovery at home. Not only that, but money makes the world go round, and it’s the hard workers that turn it for you. Research shows that having employees in a Wellness Program and/ or a Work Hardening Program drastically reduces costs to our inundated workers’ compensation system.

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Preventing and Rehabilitating Injuries in the Workplace

Author in the Reduce Current Costs category

If you are like most people, you suffer an injury from time to time. No matter if it is as severe as a herniated disc, or as miniscule as a paper cut, it is still an inconvenience. Some minor injuries, like a paper cut, can simply be avoided by being a little bit more careful and maybe doing our work a little bit slower. While the same rule applies to preventing major injuries, they also require a little bit more work on our part.

The best ‘treatment’ for injuries is prevention. Good agility, technical skills, and cardiovascular and musculoskeletal fitness are important in injury prevention. In order to achieve all of these things, a multiphasic training regimen (training regimen consisting of multiple phases) should be used. A good multiphasic training program should include warming up and cooling down, the use of safe and familiar equipment, muscle strengthening exercises, cardiovascular exercises, and the training of neurophysiological functions (balance, coordination and reaction time). These are all essential in preventing injuries and they become increasingly important as you get older.

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Promote a Healthy and Active Lifestyle for Your Employees

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

With this very fast paced job world it is very important to remember the environment that is being promoted in your workplace. Your employee’s health is often linked to the environment and the health of the company. The benefits of having healthy employees can produce increased job satisfaction, improved morale, reduced illness and injuries, and increased productivity. Creating a healthy environment is not hard, expensive or time consuming. Any business or organization can promote a healthy workplace. Here are some suggestions to get you started in the right direction:

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Conquering Back Pain with Physical Activity

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

More than 80 percent of adults experience back pain at some point in their lives. In the past, it was commonly believed that rest was important for recovery from back pain. However, that is just not the case. Resting through a back injury can prolong your recovery. The longer you rest, the harder it becomes to resume your regular activities.The good news is that most back pain resolves if you treat it by being active. Staying active, as well as practicing good mechanics such as proper posture and lifting techniques, speeds up the recovery process and decreases the risk of chronic disability.Inactivity can prolong pain. When we are inactive, we become stiff, and our muscles and bones weaken. We can become depressed, and the pain can feel worse.

The earlier you get active, the sooner you’ll be able to resume your regular activities.

Pain_Diagram.jpg
Source: Healthy Alberta

Being active is key to recovering from back pain. Understanding your pain and the benefits of staying active will help to ease your fears of causing further harm and will enable you to take an active role in recovery and prevention. Finding activities you enjoy will help you to recover quickly and to prevent future flare-ups.

When you allow your employees to stay at home and not remain active, it increases their time away from work. Our Health and Wellness Rooms address these issues in a positive and encouraging environment. With trained medical staff in each room, your employee will be encouraged within their restrictions to remain productive. This helps the employee maintain good mental health. Contact Proof:Positive and let us help you keep your injured employees active while enhancing their sense of confidence and well-being.

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Personal Training: A Surprising Health and Wellness Room Benefit

Author in the Prevent Future Claims category

I started training about four months ago. With an intense diet and lots of exercise, I went from a size 12 to a size 6. It was a lot of hard work, and not to mention sweat and being tired. I don’t think that I could have done it though if it wasn’t for my personal trainer. He was always there actually holding me accountable for being present at the gym, to provide a journal of the food I was eating, and was there to push me to be better.

Think of the Health and Wellness Room as your injured employees’ personal trainer of sorts. We are personally involved in the recovery of each individual that comes in. We want to see results, to see the recovery process take place and conclude. We are going to  make sure that he/she is getting up and moving within the restrictions of their specific injury. That the motivation stays high to get back into the workplace and prevent being in a “daytime TV slump” because he/she can’t do what they could before. It encompasses all aspects of the recovery process. I know that there were days I didn’t want to go to the gym because I was tired, or I wasn’t seeing results every day and it was depressing at times. We here at the Health and Wellness Rooms can address that slump too.

We mix up the day here – we have stretch time, designated walk times, and educational experiences for your injury. We will teach your employees how to prevent further injury, instead of just telling them what to do and send them home. Finally the Health and Wellness Rooms will set the pace. We keep your employees in a routine, which is half the battle of setting the recovery in motion.

Your Proof:Positive personal trainer is waiting.

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