Creating a Coordinated Approach for Health, Safety and Well-being at Work and Home

(Excerpt from an article by Randy Boss of Ottawa Kent Insurance, Jenison, MI, which will be featured in the June issue of Rough Notes.)

There are 311 million Americans in the United States and 155 million of those are workers. Work effects employees health care options, emotional well-being and family life. In order to fully address health, we have to address what happens both at work and outside of work.

While it can be argued that workers comp costs have been relatively stable, the cost for health care is a much bigger problem. In fact, the high cost of health care is listed as one of the top three concerns by business owners.  Another challenge is that many workers are choosing to work longer. Unfortunately, many also report having chronic conditions that affect their well-being, causing them to retire early due to health issues.

According to a 2007 Duke University study, workers’ compensation cost for obese employees was much higher than costs for non-obese employees. Researchers also found a clear linier relationship between BMI and rate of claims. Employees with BMI greater than 40 had twice as many claims, seven times more lost workdays and 10 times more lost wages.

While employers have a responsibility to provide a safe and hazard-free workplace, they also have abundant opportunities to promote individual health and foster a healthy work environment. Maintaining a healthier workforce can lower direct costs such as insurance premiums and worker’s compensation claims. It will also positively impact many indirect costs such as absenteeism and worker productivity. To improve the health of their employees, businesses can create a wellness culture that is employee-centered; provides supportive environments where safety is ensured and health can emerge; and provides access and opportunities for their employers to engage in a variety of workplace health programs.

It’s safe to say everyone benefits from a healthy workforce. As a result, employers see lower workers’ comp premiums: higher productivity and higher morale. And when employees are healthier so are their families.

Here are examples of overlapping health hazards at home and at work.

• Stress from work can affect our family lives and vice-versa
• Eating nutritious foods makes for a healthier more productive workforce, yet access to healthy food is often difficult at work.
• Chemical exposures on the job can be brought home on work cloths and expose family members.

This means we have an excellent opportunity in the workplace to influence overall worker health by addressing general health issues and not just workplace hazards.  But only if we put forth a strategic and operational coordination of policies, programs and practices designed to simultaneously prevent work-related injuries and illnesses, while enhancing overall workforce health and wellbeing. We also have to continue the traditional occupational safety and health protection we have implemented since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed, coupled with health promotion.

Rising health costs have intensified the interest employers have in promoting a healthy workforce. While there is still a historical reluctance I think workplace integration of health protection and health promotion activities is becoming a new standard for safeguarding the health and safety of the workforce.