A Wellness Plan Can Prevent Workplace Injuries Before They Happen

Ray Gage, a Master WorkComp Advisor and a principal for Grabill Insurance Center in Leo, IN, recently penned an article for EHS TODAY. In the article Ray states that you can’t control a tornado hitting your manufacturing plant, but you can control making sure the employees working in that plant wear PEPs, are not lifting boxes beyond their physical capabilities, and not walking on floors slipperier than an ice skating rink. You can for the most part control your workers’ comp world by creating a safe environment populated with healthy workers. And that’s where a targeted wellness program should be an integral part of any workplace environment, and a major step in preventing workplace injuries.

Wellness is a relatively new concept to most employers, many of who still think of it primarily as a feature of their health insurance policy. They don’t think of the impact it has on their Workers’ Comp costs, mostly because they don’t perceive of what it truly is: an employee benefit.

Because workers’ compensation is not thought of as an employee benefit and wellness programs are instituted with health insurance related goals in mind, most employers do not consider the impact that a wellness program can have on their workers’ compensation premiums.  A wellness program can have a noticeable impact on reducing both the frequency of injuries and the severity of those injuries. The reason is quite simple; chronically ill or obese employees may suffer more injuries and take longer to return to work when injured.

No two ways around it, a healthier workforce is going to be less prone to injury and, if they are injured, they’re going to be back to work faster because their recovery times are going to be quicker.  So if incorporating wellness into the workplace culture of a company is so obviously important, then why do so many business owners resist it?

To read the entire article, click here: http://ehstoday.com/safety/take-steps-prevent-workplace-injuries-they-happen