Workplace Injuries and Illnesses

An enhanced focus on prevention is needed to bring these numbers down. To accomplish this, an effective, flexible, commonsense tool is available that can dramatically reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries and illnesses the injury and illness prevention program. This tool helps employers find hazards and fix them before injuries, illnesses or deaths occur. It helps employers meet their obligation under the OSH Act to furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees. It also helps employers avoid the significant costs associated with injuries and illnesses in the workplace. 

OSHA believes that adoption of injury and illness prevention programs based on simple, sound, proven principles will help millions of U.S. businesses improve their compliance with existing laws and regulations, decrease the incidence of workplace injuries and illnesses, reduce costs (including significant reductions in workers compensation premiums) and enhance their overall business operations. 

Affect the involvement of direct supervision in the management of workplace injury and illness cases ... 

What is the significance of ergonomics-related incidents within the universe of workplace injuries and illnesses A colleague in an insurance... 

Assume that on a macro and best-information-available basis, estimates previously cited are close—that is, that 50% of workplace injuries and illnesses and 60% of workers compensation costs are ergonomics-related. Then, those who have responsibilities in occupational safety and health must have broad involvement in ergonomics. 

In 2010, in the United States, some 4,690 employees were killed in accidents while at their workplaces carrying out their normal duties. In the same year, nearly 3.1 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported among private industry employers, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. According to the US. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010), some 900,000 of these cases involved days away from work, more than 200,000 were as a result of falls, 185,000 were back injuries, and 370,000 sprains, strains, and tears were reported. 

Performance measures are quantitative and qualitative and a mandatory quantitative measure for all OSPs is that the workplace injury and illness rates evaluation criteria is recommended. They also list some of the measurable criteria under the OSP agreement ... 

Leading Indicators that are connected to the conditions and activities that occur before workplace injuries and illness. These measure the safety level on a jobsite even if no injuries occurred. Leading... 

Obviously, the OSHAforms will not contain information about all of your workplace injuries and illnesses. But that doesn t mean those other injuries and illnesses are unimportant. 

A statistical report on data of workplace injuries and illness which are analyzed by the rate and number of work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatal injuries, and how these statistics vary by incident, industry, geography, occupation, and other characteristics. Conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on a national level some employers are required to participate and others do so voluntarily. Anomaly... 

An item provided to a worker, group, or organization to recognize its safety performance in accordance with an organization s goals. The award helps promote prevention of workplace injuries and illness and motivate employees to improve their safety performance. See also Safety Recognition Program. 

Data on nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses paint a somewhat different picture than fatal injuries. Figure 1.2 shows the trend of nonfatal workplace injuries and illness since 1973, which is the first year firms were required to report industrial accidents and diseases. Unlike death rates, injuries and illnesses do not show a marked decline over time. Since 1975 the pattern of workplace injuries follows closely... 

Wiatrowski, W. J., Comparing Old and New Statistics on Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, Monthly Labor Review, December 2004, pp. 10-24. 

OSHA believes that revising the HCS to include the GHS will result in the safer handling of workplace chemicals and prevent over 500 workplace injuries and illnesses and 43 fatalities annually. 

The National Prevention Strategy is an evolution in workplace health and safety. First the individual was responsible for his or her own health and safety. The concept of dependence came next — supervisory control and compliance with regulations. Interdependence followed in the form of teamwork Now even things seemingly not work-related are integrated to further reduce workplace injury and illness. Read the strategy as if you were ready to evolve. i i... 

The toll of workplace injuries and illnesses continnes to harm our country. Six million workers in the United States are exposed to workplace hazards ranging from falls from elevations to exposures to lead. The hazards vary depending upon the type of industry (e.g., manufacturing) and the types of work being performed by workers (e.g., welding). 

The prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses will definitely reduce the cost of workers compensation premiums. It does not matter whether the company pays into the state workers compensation system or is self-insured. What motivates most employers to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses is usually dollars. Some studies show that other benefits result from a decrease in the number of injuries and illnesses. For example, employers can expect to increase attendance, morale, and productivity. These are just a few of the side effects of reduced workers compensation costs. 

Incident rates, both frequency (total recordable rate, that includes all OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses), and severity (the number of restricted lost days due to workplace injuries and illnesses) are considered end of the pipe (downstream) measurements. These measurements are similar to trying to inspect quality into the finished products after the fact, rather than control the production process. 

How significant are ergonomics-related incidents within the universe of workplace injuries and illnesses On November 9,2011, as is done annually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued a bulletin titled Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away from Work, 2010. Keep in mind that statistics in the report pertain only to days-away-from-work cases. 

Comprehensiveness. The importance of comprehensiveness for a safety and health program is implicitly addressed in Workplace Analysis under both Survey and hazard analysis and Data analysis. An effective safety and health program shall address all known and potential sources of workplace injuries and illnesses. 

Since the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act in 1970, the safety and health function has been primarily based on compliance and the myriad safety and health standards promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The standards developed during the early years of the OSH Act were primarily developed through review of other voluntary standards and recommendations by other organizations that were already in place. New standards were developed over the years through research and as a reaction to injuries and illnesses that had been incurred in the workplace. However, with numerous safety and health standards in place and being strictly enforced, the American workplace still experiences approximately 4000 fatalities on an annual basis, and workplace injuries and illnesses cost anployers many millions of dollars each year. 

Workplace incidents cause an enormous amount of physical, financial and emotional hardship for individual workers and their families. Combined with insufficient workers compensation benefits and inadequate medical insurance, workplace injuries and illnesses can not only cause physical pain and suffering but also loss of employment and wages, burdensome debt, inability to maintain a previous standard of living, loss of home ownership and even bankruptcy. When implemented effectively, injury and illness prevention programs can help workers and their families avoid these disruptive and... 

The total number of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses decreased in 2009 to... 

BLS. US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics News Release Workplace Injuries and Illnesses-2009. http //www.bls.gov/news-release/ acrchives/osh 10212010.pdf. Accessed 27 Apr 2011. 

On January 1, 2002, OSHA s new recordkeeping rule became effective. The completely revised rule is designed to improve the system that employers use to track and record workplace injuries and illnesses. It simplifies the recordkeeping system by combining previous regulatory requirements, guidelines, and interpretations into one document. 

If your company is covered by this rule, you will need to start documenting workplace injuries and illnesses according to the revised Part 1904 requirements. And, you will begin using a new set of recordkeeping forms, the OSHA 300 series. 

The mandated California OSHA Injury and Illness Prevention Program Utle 8- 3203 (Guide to Developing Your Workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Program with checklists for self-inspection, n.d.). 

In a July 19, 2010, letter to OSHA staff on OSHA at 40 , OSHA administrator David Michaels wrote, Ensuring that American workplaces are safe will require a paradigm shift, with employers going beyond simply attempting to meet OSHA standards, to implementing risk-based workplace injury and illness prevention programs (our italics) (Einhard, 2010). 

Guide to Developing Your Workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Program with checklists for self-inspection Adapted for Use. (n.d.). State of Cahfomia, Department of and Industrial Relations. Retrieved from http //bit.ly/Xewi5m. Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2), Adapted for Use. (n.d.). Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Retrieved from http //Lusa.gov/lIszWK. 

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