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Cost of Injury
Few people in
facility construction or maintenance really realize just how
high the cost of worker injury is.
 Those that do usually are people in a
company that work directly with the workers' compensation insurance
carrier or are doing injury case management. These see the enormous
costs that accrue for reserves and the frequently very long recovery
times for the injured to get back to work. One other person in
a company that will always know about the high cost of injury
will be that senior executive who signs the premium checks that
go to the workers' compensation insurance carrier.
It is not uncommon to see serious injury costs exceed $100,000
per case as determined by the medical costs and partial wage
paid the injured while off work. Workers' compensation insurance
premium varies widely, state to state across the USA. These costs
from the highest cost state to the lowest cost state range as
high as five to one. And the cost of premium from the highest
cost trade to the lowest cost trade ranges as high as 20 to one,
depending on the trade and state.
The high cost of workers' compensation insurance can cripple
an otherwise healthy company. Preventing injury should be of
major concern to any CEO. Unfortunately, too many CEOs are being
told by their people that "injuries just happen!" Further.
these people persuade the CEO that nothing else can be done.
 There is another view. An opposing view.
This opposing view is held by the CEOs who have led their companies
into the realm of a Zero Injury philosophy. In doing so they
have found true safety excellence. The Construction Industry
Institute at The University of Texas, Austin, sponsored research
into how some employers and projects were able to work millions
of hours without serious injury.
This academically led research effort revealed over 100 critical safety
techniques that those employers choose from who routinely perform
their work with Zero Lost Workday Cases. Utilizing all 100+ is
not necessary. Just use a majority of those that fit your job
or company situation. |
