Preventing Injuries

Hiring & Drug Testing

Hiring Practices

Preventing accidents is the first step to a successful workers compensation program. Making sure the employee you hire is physically capable of the job is an important step. Knowing the essential functions of every job is crucial. To find out if the candidate is a match for the job can be achieved by asking the right questions in the interview, doing background check and taking the time to do pre-employment physicals and drug screens. Checking off all of these boxes, leads to smart hires.

Return to Work

Despite our best efforts, employees still get injured at work. Having a return to work program in place before the injury occurs can help out quite a bit. The program will hopefully reduce the amount of time an employee sits at home and the overall cost of the claim. The ideal situation is that the employee gets back to their normal position and job duties in a safe, timely manner.

Sometimes despite your best efforts, an employee gets injured at work. Having a return to work program in place before an injury occurs can greatly reduce the amount of time an employee sits at home, and the overall cost of a workman’s comp claim. Ideally, the employee is able to fully return to their normal position and job duties, following a workplace accident.

Safety Tools

Safety Manual

There are two main reasons employers should have a safety manual. First, to communicate safety policies and procedures to employees and second, to meet government regulations.

Many employers simply have the safety manual because they are required to, but it’s also important to prioritize safety. If you emphasize how important safety is from the beginning, employees are more likely to understand what is expected of them. The safety manual shows that safety is extremely important and that there is a plan in place to make employee wellbeing the top priority.

Safety manuals may vary, but a few basic items your manual should include are:

  • General health and safety policy
  • Rules at the company
  • Reporting and investigation
  • Workplace hazards
  • Safety practices and procedures
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Preventative maintenance
  • Communication and training
  • Emergency preparedness
  • Records

Safety Committee

If you have more than 25 employees, you may be required by state law to have a safety committee. This committee can have as many members as you’d like and the meeting times are up to you. Most safety committees meet on a quarterly basis. Giving employees the opportunity to express their concerns and ideas can be a rewarding part of their job.

The committee should include employees and management. A typical safety committee includes 5-10 volunteers. It’s important that members attend every meeting, especially since they are not very frequent. Make sure each meeting has a stated purpose and all members have the opportunity to participate.

Safety/Loss Prevention

Safety Training

Safety training is extremely important not only when an employee is first hired, but also continued training throughout their career. Reminders about the dangers that exist in the workplace are one example of continued training. Helping employees to understand the purpose of each safety training session is important as well. Safety training goes beyond common sense and should teach preventive techniques.

Here are three things you should cover during safety training:

  1. Show your employees how to keep themselves and others safe
  2. Teaches employees how to prevent unsafe situations
  3. How to limit the costs of injuries and accidents

In order to function smoothly, employers need their employees to be present in the moment. If safety training is continued, it will create a better culture within the business and give employees continued reminders.

Supervisor Training

Not only do you need to train employees on safety, but you need to have additional training for supervisors. Here are some things supervisors should be focus on:

  1. Keep an eye out for unsafe behaviors and unsafe equipment
  2. Maintain a safe work area
  3. Train and remind your employees to be safe
  4. Know how to enforce the safety policies and procedures
  5. Make the right picks when hiring employees