Which one of the following should be the first method used to reduce workplace accidents?

Injuries to employees can be devastating for businesses, especially small businesses with fewer employees available to take on new roles when an injured worker is on leave. While workers compensation insurance will help pay medical costs and replace an injured employee’s lost income, your business will have to absorb costs associated with reduced productivity, overtime, training replacements, and so on.

The best way to minimize the hidden costs of workplace injuries and related insurance costs is to prevent accidents from happening in the first place. Follow the steps below and consider developing a formal, comprehensive workplace safety program to help reduce the risk of injury:

• Engage management and employees - Businesses are most successful improving workplace safety when leadership and employees collaborate. Responsibility for workplace safety should be part of everyone’s job, and specific employees and managers should be tasked with implementing, maintaining and improving workplace safety program components.
• Analyze your workplace and operations - Evaluate your business from top to bottom. Review your equipment as well as all workplace activities. As part of your evaluation, talk to your employees to learn their safety concerns. Whenever you add new operations, equipment or facilities to your business, analyze these for risks as well.
• Mitigate hazards - Simply identifying and being aware of hazardous practices, equipment and infrastructure is not enough. When hazards are identified, you should seek to remove or control them by replacing or fixing equipment, adding new safety measures or changing workplace operations.
• Implement training - Train employees about workplace safety and how to identify hazards. Include workplace safety training as part of employee onboarding and offer refresher training on a regular basis. In addition to injury prevention training, you may want to include first-aid training so that your workforce can respond effectively if an accident does occur.
• Review, respond and improve - Promoting workplace safety is an ongoing process. You should review and improve your program—especially in response to accidents or “near misses.” Employees should always be encouraged to report newly identified hazards or workplace incidents so that you can respond appropriately.

Workplace safety programs provide additional benefits beyond preventing accidents. These programs have been found to increase employee morale, retention and productivity.

Beyond prevention: Workers compensation insurance

Unfortunately, accidents and injuries do happen. Following the steps above can help reduce workplace injuries, but the risk cannot be absolutely eliminated. To help employees—and your business—recover from a workplace injury, your company will need workers compensation insurance. Workers compensation insurance requirements for employers vary from state to state—and knowing the requirements for your state is essential to protecting your business.

What workers comp covers

A workers compensation insurance claim can be filed if an employee is injured at your workplace or while on the job at another location. A claim can also be filed if a worker is injured in a vehicle accident while on business. Costs are also covered for employees that develop work-related illnesses. Your workers compensation insurance will cover:

• Income benefits - Replaces a portion of an employee’s salary when work is missed.
• Medical and rehabilitation costs - Pays necessary medical care to treat work-related injuries or illness.
• Funeral expenses - In the case of death, funeral and related expenses such as burial or cremation are covered.
• Death benefits - Paid to a surviving spouse and dependents.

Each state has different laws governing the amount and duration of lost income benefits, the provision of medical and rehabilitation services and how the system is administered. For example, in most states there are regulations that cover whether the worker or employer can choose the doctor who treats the injuries and how disputes about benefits are resolved.

What isn’t covered

While workers compensation covers costs directly tied to an injured employee, it does not cover the hidden costs associated with the loss of an employee, including:

• Business interruption losses.
• Hiring and training of employees.
• Overtime costs.

Workers compensation must be purchased as a stand-alone policy, approved by the state in which you do business. This type of coverage is not included in Commercial Package Policies (CPPs) or Business Owners Policies (BOPs).

Controlling exposures to hazards in the workplace is vital to protecting workers. The hierarchy of controls is a way of determining which actions will best control exposures. The hierarchy of controls has five levels of actions to reduce or remove hazards. The preferred order of action based on general effectiveness is:

1. Elimination
2. Substitution
3. Engineering controls
4. Administrative controls
5. Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Using this hierarchy can lower worker exposures and reduce risk of illness or injury.

Elimination

Elimination removes the hazard at the source. This could include changing the work process to stop using a toxic chemical, heavy object, or sharp tool. It is the preferred solution to protect workers because no exposure can occur.

Substitution

Substitution is using a safer alternative to the source of the hazard. An example is using plant-based printing inks as a substitute for solvent-based inks.

When considering a substitute, it’s important to compare the potential new risks of the substitute to the original risks. This review should consider how the substitute will combine with other agents in the workplace. Effective substitutes reduce the potential for harmful effects and do not create new risks.

Elimination and substitution can be the most difficult actions to adopt into an existing process. These methods are best used at the design or development stage of a work process, place, or tool. At the development stage, elimination and substitution may be the simplest and cheapest option. Another good opportunity to use elimination and substitution is when selecting new equipment or procedures. Prevention through Design is an approach to proactively include prevention when designing work equipment, tools, operations, and spaces.

Engineering Controls

Engineering controls reduce or prevent hazards from coming into contact with workers. Engineering controls can include modifying equipment or the workspace, using protective barriers, ventilation, and more. The NIOSH Engineering Controls Database has examples of published engineering control research findings.

The most effective engineering controls:

• are part of the original equipment design
• remove or block the hazard at the source before it comes into contact with the worker
• prevent users from modifying or interfering with the control
• need minimal user input for the controls to work
• operate correctly without interfering with the work process or making the work process more difficult

Engineering controls can cost more upfront than administrative controls or PPE. However, long-term operating costs tend to be lower, especially when protecting multiple workers. In addition, engineering controls can save money in other areas of the work process or facility operation.

Administrative Controls

Administrative controls establish work practices that reduce the duration, frequency, or intensity of exposure to hazards. This may include:

• work process training
• job rotation
• ensuring adequate rest breaks
• limiting access to hazardous areas or machinery
• adjusting line speeds

PPE

PPE is equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards. Examples of PPE include gloves, safety glasses, hearing protection, hard hats, and respirators. When employees use PPE, employers should implement a PPE program. While elements of the PPE program depend on the work process and the identified PPE, the program should address:

• workplace hazards assessment
• PPE selection and use
• inspection and replacement of damaged or worn-out PPE
• employee training
• program monitoring for continued effectiveness

Employers should not rely on PPE alone to control hazards when other effective control options are available. PPE can be effective, but only when workers use it correctly and consistently. PPE might seem to be less expensive than other controls, but can be costly over time. This is especially true when used for multiple workers on a daily basis.

When other control methods are unable to reduce the hazardous exposure to safe levels, employers must provide PPE. This includes:

• while other controls are under development
• when other controls cannot sufficiently reduce the hazardous exposure
• when PPE is the only control option available

Administrative controls and PPE require significant and ongoing effort by  workers and their supervisors. They are useful when employers are in the process of implementing other control methods from the hierarchy. Additionally, administrative controls and PPE are often applied to existing processes where hazards are not well controlled.

Training and evaluation can help ensure selected controls are successful. Employers should correctly train workers and supervisors on how to use controls. Workers and their supervisors should evaluate controls on a regular basis. Regular evaluation can check whether controls are effective in reducing workers’ exposures and identify potential improvements.

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