Workplace Injuries Cost Businesses Like Yours $554 Billion in 2003

Cost of on-the-job injuries, 2003The cost of on-the-job injuries can counteract every effort a company makes to maximize productivity, client service, and profits. The massive costs associated with these injury claims are an indication that companies are struggling to balance the need for a safe, productive work environment with the demand to increase efficiencies and improve profit margin. But as American industrialist Lee Iacocca once suggested, if you get the people part right, the rest will fall into place; on-the-job injuries will decrease, workers’ compensation costs will drop, and performance will peak.If $554 billion is hard to fathom, try $29,000…or thirty-five days. According to the National Safety Council, these are the average costs of an injury claim and the average number of days lost per work-related injury, respectively.

The value of returning injured workers to full duty quickly is immense. According to the American Medical Association’s Committee on Practice, early return to work enhances both psychological and physical recovery. To be more concrete, injured employees who are out of work for a period of time longer than six months have only a 50 percent chance of ever returning to their job; for those who spend more than a year away from work, the rate of return drops below 10 percent. According to a study by the Work Loss Data Institute, workers who get back to work within a few weeks of an injury cost a company, on average, $1,000 or less. When claims extend beyond 30 days, the cost rises to approximately $50,000. It simply pays to get employees back on the job quickly and safely.

However, as important as it is to return injured employees to work, it is more meaningful and cost effective to prevent injuries in the first place. This is where Proof:Positive’s safety and prevention services come in. Through safety seminars, worksite audits, management training, team building, work hardening, and drug testing, we actualize our objective. We make worksites safer, more efficient, and more profitable.

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