Consider direct costs of a work-related injury
One reason that safety initiatives can struggle to achieve sufficient support is that organizations don’t always consider the indirect costs after a work-related injury.
Some costs associated with an injury are apparent and easy to assign to a specific incident. Other costs are embedded within larger issues.
The direct costs of an injury can include medical treatment costs for an injured worker, wages for time lost by the worker, disability settlements and case management expenses.
Now consider possible indirect costs …
- Training costs. When other people are needed to do an injured person’s job, it may require time from both a trainer and the new person assigned to the task.
- Hiring costs. Even if a person leaves your workforce temporarily, you may need to hire.
- Lost productivity. Productivity is nearly always affected after an injury.
- Equipment damage.
- Overtime. When other people assume an injured worker’s responsibilities, it may require paying overtime.
- Machine downtime. The machine may have been damaged during the incident or may be down until the incident is investigated.
- Legal fees.
- Investigation and documentation. Every incident, no matter how minor, should be investigated and properly investigated.
- Product delays. A disruption in the production process can affect revenue. The total business cost of product delays can be far greater than the actual production loss.
Source: EHS Humantech Ergonomic Solutions
