February 2015 – Page 3 – Risk Management 365

Business Case for Safety and Health

Employers that invest in workplace safety and health can expect to reduce fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. This will result in cost savings in a variety of areas, such as lowering workers’ compensation costs and medical expenses, avoiding OSHA penalties, and reducing costs to train replacement employees and conduct accident investigations. In addition, employers often find that changes made to improve workplace safety and health can result in significant improvements to their organization’s productivity and financial performance.

via Safety and Health Topics | Business Case for Safety and Health – Benefits.

Preventing Falls

People do things all the time that may cause them to fall. Falls can lead to injuries and can stop someone from doing what he or she enjoys. The good news is that many falls can be prevented.

What Puts Someone at Risk for Falling?

There can be problems in the environment, such as:

Poor lighting
Stairs that may be too steep or not in good repair
Floor surfaces that are uneven—for example, moving from a hardwood floor to a carpet
Outside surfaces that are uneven—for example, a sidewalk

Falls can also be caused by health issues, such as:

Balance, hearing, or vision changes
Muscle weakness or numbness
Normal aging
A fall in the past
Stroke, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, or other problems
Some medications
A history of falls

via Preventing Falls.

Injury Risk to Home Building Workers

Home building is physically demanding work and manual material handling may be the most difficult part of the job. Manual material handling includes all of the tasks that require you to lift, lower, push, pull, hold or carry materials. These activities increase the risk of painful strains and sprains and more serious soft tissue injuries.

Soft tissues of the body include muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs, cartilage and nerves. Soft tissue injuries cause workers pain, suffering and lost income. They can also restrict non-work activity, like sports and hobbies. Builders’ and employers’ costs include loss of productivity and high workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

via CDC – NIOSH Publications and Products – Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers (2013-111).