Page 91 - Occupational Health & Safety, July 2017

pen. It is much better to fix it now than wait for an injury to occur. 6. When investigating an accident for root cause, keep asking “But why?” “But why did you feel you needed to rush? But why were the parts not there when you needed them? But why were they ordered so late?” Follow the investigation wherever it leads you. And do not be surprised if it leads you back to the Human
Resources Department.
7. Being thorough/careful about whom you bring into your
company as a new hire is the most potentially impactful loss con- trol at a company’s disposal. Many of my customers no longer call prior employers for a reference, claiming “they never tell you anything.” I challenge that claim. At a minimum, you should be able to confirm dates of employment. It is a red flag when an ap- plicant misrepresents on the application how long he/she worked for someone else. How an employer talks about a former employee is often more meaningful than the actual words spoken.
8. No injured worker should be allowed to recuperate unsuper- vised at home, as that only encourages malingering. If the employ- ee is able to walk and drive his/her car (i.e., has a work capacity), insist that he or she come to work. You can always find something meaningful for them to do, even if it is just for a couple hours. You pay them for the first two hours and the workers’ comp carrier pays them for the rest of the shift. The key is to keep them coming to work every day. Again, no one gets paid to recuperate unsuper- vised at home.
9. One manager should be in charge of your Return to Work (RTW) program. Put your program details in writing and review it with every new hire as part of their on-boarding.
10. Retain ownership of any lost-time accident. This means your RTW coordinator stays in regular contact with the employee, medical provider, and claim adjuster on any lost-time claim.
11. Identify a local medical provider willing to partner with you in keeping employees on the job.
12. Make a “honey-do” list of light duty jobs that are avail- able at your facility and share it with the medical provider. Invite the provider to visit your facility to see in person the physical demands of the production jobs and the “transitional duty” work that is available.
The C-Team is constantly looking to squeeze more juice from the company lemon. Mitigating your exposure to costly accidents is the proverbial “low hanging fruit.” For a relatively modest invest- ment of time and capital, the company receives considerable pay back in the form of reduced insurance costs, improved productiv- ity, and you spare yourself all the “uninsured,” non-valued added work that accompany accidents. These uninsured costs typically exceed the costs covered by insurance. (See http://www.osha.gov/ dcsp/smallbusiness/safetypays/estimator.html).
Hire well. Find creative ways to keep your good workers from leaving. Make sure every manager in your organization has some skin in the game when it comes to safety. Aggressively investigate all incidents for root cause. Actively manage every workers’ com- pensation claim. Do that and your organization will be well on its way to a Best in Class safety program.
Thomas R. Knight is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) who has been providing risk management advice to commercial insurance customers for 30+ years.
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