Organizations frequently inquire about ways to lessen the number and severity of claims, such as workers' compensation or property claims. Every organization struggles to find new strategies to reduce injuries and decrease workers’ compensation costs, but to minimize the frequency and severity of claims, it all comes down to risk reduction.
The best way to reduce risk is taking steps to ensure workplace accidents don’t happen. Accident prevention in the workplace is critical not only for employee health and well-being but also for morale and productivity, both of which suffer when accidents occur. This also has an effect on the organization's bottom line.
Slips, trips, and falls are a significant source of liability claims for businesses. While these sorts of accidents can’t be totally avoided, safeguards should be taken to reduce the frequency and severity of an occurrence and their associated costs.
There are four principal steps your organization must take to reduce risk, and in doing so, reduce claim frequency and severity: Prevention, Communication, Training, and Preparation. Developing a strategy framework that includes these four steps can help to prevent injuries and cut your organization's risk cost.
Entails detecting the possibility of an occurrence before it occurs. When it comes to safety in the workplace, prevention is far more productive and preferable than having to deal with the aftermath of an accident.
Determine the risks of accidents for each of your employees and workstations. You can then develop a risk mitigation plan.
For example, one simple technique for identifying and reducing hazards such as slip, trip, and fall risks is to create a process where employees can report any type of hazard seen throughout day easily either via email, voice mail or by clicking on a button to allow them to log off their computer. This fosters responsibility and improves knowledge of potential risks. Making health and safety a priority for everyone raises awareness and aids in the maintenance of a "safe" mentality.
Communication among staff members, including supervisors, is essential for injury prevention. Having a plan, such as a comprehensive workplace injury prevention program, can have a big impact on both employee wellness and the company’s bottom line.
The first step, if you haven't already done so, is to establish a solid safety culture. Ensure that each employee realizes that safety is his or her responsibility from the start. To ensure a safer workplace, strengthen and regularly implement regulations and procedures. Begin each meeting with a report on safety. Make sure leadership is thoroughly involved in the organization’s safety policies. Companies that excel at loss reduction understand that safety begins at the top of an organization.
Create a safety policy that establishes your commitment to worker health and safety and states who is accountable for what areas of health and safety. It should also instruct workers on what to do if they believe their safety has been jeopardized.
Staff should know that protecting their ministry and those they serve is top priority. Employees who are under extreme pressure to reach daily outputs are more prone to skip steps, putting their safety at risk. To avoid preventable injuries, ensure that all instructions are clear and structured.
A copy of the policy should be presented to all new hires and the information should be easily accessible to everyone within the organization. Review your safety policy every year and change it as needed.
Ongoing employee training is essential to any safety policy. It is in every company’s and employee’s best interest to take part in a comprehensive safety training program.
Health and safety awareness training works by educating your employees on how to avoid accidents by detecting occupational dangers in their workplace and how to develop various solutions to reduce those hazards whenever they arise. A thorough safety program will also help encourage employee investment, fostering a safety culture inside your organization.
Besides physical harm and illness, today’s employees and organizations also must be concerned with emotional and mental health. Stress, for example, has long-term harmful effects on both people and their performance at work. Some health and safety training will include tactics for dealing with occupational stress and overexertion.
While training will not ensure total workplace safety, it will put your employees in the strongest position to avoid dangers and keep the number of accidents and illnesses to a minimum.
Accidents are bound to happen. That is why it is critical to prepare for both unavoidable and avoidable situations.
Weather, for example, is an unavoidable situation that may have a significant impact on the safety of your personnel and visitors. If sufficient safety precautions are taken, you can considerably lower the likelihood of harm and the severity of the occurrence. Spreading salt or sand on frozen paths, for example, can significantly reduce the incidence of events, lowering the cost of claims and insurance premiums.
Stay organized. More injuries and accidents will occur if the work environment is risky. It's as simple as that. Poor housekeeping can cause serious health and safety hazards in the workplace. Who is in charge of cleaning up possibly dangerous spills and storing equipment and tools? Assign those responsibilities to a specific person or job title. Ensure that staff in charge of maintenance and cleaning are aware of their responsibilities.
Reducing the number and severity of your organization’s claims is an ongoing process. It requires frequent risk assessments, safety audits, effective monitoring procedures, as well as consulting and training. Christian Brothers Risk Management Services can help. We offer Risk Pooling Trust members free online and live virtual training, webinars, flyers, guides and toolkits that can help you take steps to reduce your risks.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveals that 3.4 workers' compensation claims are filed every year for every 100 full-time workers.
