In this episode, Joe and Jen cover all of the tangible costs of an injury, but dive deep into the intangible costs that injuries bring that are typically not calculated. These underlying costs can cause the start of a cycle that can end up repeating for years to come. Is your business in one of these cycles? Episode summary below:

Cost of Workplace Injuries:

This episode focuses on the cost of workplace injuries, highlighting both tangible and intangible expenses such as medical bills, management time, lost productivity, and knowledge gaps.
Management Time:

Injuries lead to additional management responsibilities, including investigations, retraining, and compensating for absent employees, which disrupts regular workflows.
Loss of Productivity:

When injuries occur, productivity is impacted. Managers often spend 100% of their time running the business rather than improving it, and the absence of skilled workers further affects operations.
Employee Morale and Retention:

Extended work hours and the stress of compensating for injured colleagues cause employee fatigue, reducing morale, increasing turnover, and lowering engagement.
Knowledge Gaps:

Injured workers often possess critical skills that cannot be easily replaced. Their absence creates knowledge gaps, especially in specialized areas like maintenance, which can lead to further risks and inefficiencies.
Fatigue and Mental Health:

Fatigue due to extended work periods and increased workloads without recovery time heightens the risk of injuries and affects employees' mental health.
Customer and Public Relations:

Injuries can lead to bad PR and strain customer relations, adding pressure to the business to maintain productivity while addressing safety concerns.
Regulatory and Legal Costs:

Managing workers' compensation claims, regulatory compliance, and potential legal fees adds to the financial burden caused by injuries.
Proactive Prevention:

The podcast emphasizes the importance of preventing injuries by improving communication, addressing risks early, and ensuring employees feel heard to avoid burnout and maintain safety.
Closing Remarks:

Hosts Joe and Jen Allen remind listeners to assess all costs (tangible and intangible) associated with workplace injuries, encouraging businesses to prioritize safety not only for moral reasons but also to maintain control over their operations.

This video is intended for educational purposes. Solutions offered are not designed to take the place of an attorney or medical professional, and should not be taken as legal or medical advice. It is recommended that viewers consult a safety consultant, medical provider or an occupational safety legal team as applicable to help navigate their specific circumstances.

In this episode, Joe and Jen debate if making changes based on ergonomic evaluations are worth the money, and how to get a return on any ergo projects. If you're wondering if JHAs, JSAs, and Ergo assessments are worth the time and effort, this one is for you!

Key Takeaways:

Ergonomics Is Often Overlooked: When businesses are under pressure, ergonomic improvements are frequently postponed, yet neglecting them leads to higher injury rates and long-term costs.

New Hires at Risk: In physically demanding industries like poultry processing, new hires are particularly vulnerable to ergonomic injuries, especially if proper work hardening and ramp-up processes are not followed.

Broaden Ergonomic Understanding: Ergonomics isn't just about repetitive tasks; it involves the entire work environment, including awkward movements, environmental factors, and poorly designed equipment.

PPE and Ergonomics: Ill-fitting PPE can cause significant ergonomic problems, especially for women or other employees whose body types differ from the "standard" sizing used for most PPE.

ROI of Ergonomic Solutions: Investing in ergonomic solutions can deliver a solid ROI by reducing injuries, improving productivity, and even lowering turnover in high-risk roles.

Work Design Matters: Ergonomic assessments should include the broader context of the worker’s environment, not just isolated tasks.

Fatigue Increases Risks: Ergonomic risks increase toward the end of a shift when workers are fatigued, making tasks like lifting heavy hoses more dangerous.

In this episode, Joe and Jen try to give you a step by step guide on how to manage the chaos that can be left after regulators visit your facility. What do you do next? Where do you start? It can be so overwhelming, and this episode was designed to help you sort through it all.

Initial Preparation and Documentation: Jen and Joe emphasize that businesses should have a pre-existing plan in place to handle regulatory inspections. A key point here is that the plan should clearly outline how to interact with regulatory bodies when they arrive on-site. This includes establishing protocols for security, communication, and credential verification when the agency shows up. The plan is typically a few pages long but should be detailed enough to provide clear guidance on procedures to follow.

The Importance of Rapid Action: Joe stresses the urgency of addressing the problem immediately, whether it’s a chemical leak or other significant issue. He explains that actions must be taken within minutes to mitigate risks, even if regulatory agencies take longer to conduct their investigations. The goal is to prevent further incidents by quickly implementing temporary solutions.

Evaluating Systems and Gaps: Joe points out that companies often face difficulties when an incident occurs because they may have been following the same systems for years without issue. When an event happens, it’s an indication that the system failed in some way, and now the company must figure out what went wrong and address the gaps. Jen adds that it's tough for people who have been working in the same environment for years to think creatively about how to solve these problems, which is why an external review is often necessary.

Long-term Solutions and Prioritization: The discussion moves toward implementing long-term solutions. Jen and Joe emphasize that the fixes need to be sustainable—not just temporary patches. Joe explains that companies should consider a timeline for implementing changes, from immediate actions to more permanent solutions that can last for months or years. They stress that companies should avoid trying to tackle everything at once, but instead prioritize issues based on risk and severity. Joe also advises companies to document their progress, showing regulatory agencies that they are making consistent efforts toward improvement.

Systematic Approach and Testing: The hosts advocate for regularly testing safety systems and processes, even when there hasn’t been an incident, to ensure they’re still effective. Joe explains that businesses should run their operations as if they expect failures to happen, and then prepare to address those failures. This approach helps uncover hidden gaps before they become serious issues.

Involving Contractors: Jen and Joe also discuss the importance of considering contractors in safety systems. If contractors are involved in high-risk activities like confined space work or hot work, companies need to have different safety protocols in place than for regular employees. These contractor-specific risks should also be addressed in post-incident evaluations and corrective actions.

Budgeting and Financial Considerations: Another major point is how to handle the financial side of implementing fixes. Joe notes that while fixing all issues may add up to a large sum, businesses need to prioritize spending based on risk and necessity. He spends a lot of time analyzing risk levels and timelines to figure out which part of the corrective actions should be tackled first.

Documentation and Follow-Up Visits: The episode closes with advice on documenting every step of the corrective action process. Jen stresses that companies should keep detailed records of what they’re doing to address issues, as regulatory agencies will often make follow-up visits to check on progress. Showing intent through documentation is key to demonstrating compliance and effort.