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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Preventing and Reducing Costly Injuries and Illnesses

An effective IIPP can reduce or prevent costly injuries and illness in your workplace. Besides the trauma to the workplace of experiencing an employee injury or illness there are effects on the injured employee(s) and their families. Injured employees may experience pain and suffering, loose their salary, and miss opportunities for future job advancement.

Also, injuries and illness increase the cost of doing business. These direct costs to the workplace can include medical treatment, higher worker’s compensation insurance premiums, indemnity, and litigation.
On average, costs per injury can add up to more than $50,000.00 for a back injury, $62,000.00 for a slip and fall injury, and $40,000.00 for a Carpal Tunnel or Repetitive Motion Injury. These costs do not include additional indirect costs associated with injuries and illnesses such as lost productivity, re-training, hiring new employees, administrative time, repair and replacement of equipment, etc.

Cost data cited is from the WCIRB in 2008
(https://wcirbonline.org/wcirb/resources/data_reports/pdf/2008_loss_and_expenses.pdf)

Additional references for injury and illness cost data provided by:
J. Paul Leigh, Ph.D.
Department of Public Health Sciences
University of California, Davis
Davis, California

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