Could you be doing more to keep your employees safe? Workplace injuries and illnesses slow progress on major projects, and employers don’t want to see their workers hurt. Most employers recognize that continual improvement in the area of health and safety support long term profitability, but many don’t know that keeping careful employee records is critical for more than just OSHA reporting. If you are if in an industry like construction, manufacturing, farming, or trucking, all industries with many known risks for injury or work related ailment, a data driven approach to managing risk can be of significant benefit.
OSHA Requirements
If your business is one of the 8 million worksites under the Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s responsibility, you’re required to keep records of any time workers fall ill or get hurt on the job. Hospitalizations, amputations, or loss of an eye have to be reported within 24 hours. Deaths on the job must be reported within 8 hours. You should also be keeping records of any time a worker is out sick.
All of this worker data needs to be held on-site for at least five years. Every year, OSHA requires employers to post a summary of everything recorded in the previous year. Copies of those records have to be made available to current employees, former employees, and their representatives if requested.
Benefits to Employers
When you report, OSHA collects important data about the workers and the incident. The Administration compiles data like the cause of the accident, the type of work the employee was doing when it happened, where it happened, and the industry involved. OSHA then compiles this data into statistics that help inform employers, safety professionals, and advocates.
How does this information help employers? Every year in the United States, workplace injuries and illness cost employers billions of dollars. Keeping track of safety in your workplace can save you the expenses of worker’s compensation claims, lawsuits, OSHA fines, and rehiring.
Collecting longitudinal data on workers goes a long way toward preventing illness and injury before they happen. That means providing regular health exams for employees. The data from these occupational medical exams helps you spot trends in your workplace. You can use this information to make decisions about safety policy, wellness programs, worker protections, and the elimination of hazards. It’s only by identifying problems that you can begin to solve them.
Correctly applied, longitudinal worker health data will help you measure the impact that your health and safety measures are having. You can use this knowledge to save money by eliminating ineffective programs and to retain and elevate programs that are demonstrating a positive impact. You’ll also improve job satisfaction and worker retention when you show that your company cares about worker health and safety.
Benefits to Workers
OSHA’s mission is, “to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.” The Administration was created to protect the health and safety of workers, especially in high-risk industries. By keeping employers accountable, the Administration aims to make sure working conditions aren’t hazardous.
Collecting data on workplace incidents and illness helps unions and advocacy groups identify the dangers affecting workers nationwide. The data informs public policy and guidelines concerning things like hardhat requirements, hourly shift limits, toxic materials handling, and open records. It can also support legal actions against non-compliant employers that expose workers to life-threatening dangers and long-term illness.
Of course, it’s best to avoid workplace accidents altogether. That’s one compelling reason to take advantage of your employer’s occupational medical exams. Exams provide valuable information about your health, how you do your job, and how to avoid accidents. The results can help you lift and bend more efficiently, avoiding strained muscles, tears to tendons or ligaments, and generally contribute to a safer workplace for all. If you’re exposed to toxic materials that are damaging your health, an exam can help you catch the onset of long-term illnesses before it progresses.
Work with Midtown Occupational Health
Midtown Occupational Health is owned and operated by a board-certified physician and staffed by accredited and DOT-certified health professionals. We operate exclusively in the occupational medicine space. Since 1982 we’ve been providing efficient, cost-effective care to Colorado’s workforce.
Why would you choose to partner with an occupational health clinic? One of the tenets of occupational medicine is preventive medicine. Providing regular health exams is part of keeping workers healthy so they can continue to come to work. Keeping a consistent provider for these exams makes record keeping much easier than trying to gather data from separate clinics. We’ll develop a timeline for each employee to chart trends in your company.
Midtown will keep your records coordinated and your documentation consistent, making reporting easy. We also help get injured workers back on their feet faster, so they can return to their jobs. We measure ability during recovery to prevent re-injury and provide therapy plans for ongoing support. Midtown provides drug and alcohol screening as well as pre-employment physicals so you can catch potential risks before an incident occurs.
If you’re an employer or an injured employee, Midtown Occupational Health is here for you. Contact our clinic through our online contact form or at 303-831-9393.
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