According to the National Safety Council, an American worker is injured on the job every seven seconds. To improve this statistic, Kevin Lombardo of DORN Companies has written about three safety trends in the workplace.
Here are the highlights.
- Holistic worker safety strategies
- The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has developed a Total Worker Health approach to a worker's entire experience.The strategy tackles workplace safety from several angles: physical requirements of the job, workplace equipment and home environment. The object is to eliminate risk at its source before it leads to injuries.
- Technology based safety programs
- Technology is being used to analyze risk and prevent injuries, pain and fatigue. Wearable devices measure exertion levels and offer predictive safety analysis. Exoskeletons provide employee support. Desktop software and cloud based technology offer ways for employees to take charge of their health and improve strength and conditioning. Artificial intelligence risk management systems can monitor the workplace in real time.
- Managing worker substance and mental health issues
- About half of workplace injuries involve drug use, and 20% of fatalities are attributed to alcohol or drug abuse. Workers with depression or anxiety are more likely to lose time than those with chronic physical illness. The work environment and mental health are strongly linked; physical and mental factors reinforce each other. Chronic pain costs employers over $600 billion annually. Managers need to address these issues so workers will not turn to alcohol or drugs.
To learn more about these and other strategies for a safer workplace in 2020, schedule a quick call with our Workplace Safety expert, Steven Sharkey, today.