ergo maia

When the nation’s fifth largest truckload carrier’s quarterly results fails to meet expectations, people are bound to notice. That’s all the more true since long-haul trucking companies are a weather vane and harbinger of future change in the larger economy. A recent online article in the Wall Street Journal cited several reasons for Swift Transportation’s recent financial woes:

Any employer who has borne the costs of workers’ comp injuries knows only too well the financial impact that accidents and injuries can have on individual businesses. However, as steep as direct and indirect costs employers pay out for workers’ comp claims are, they pale in comparison to the financial impact these injuries can have on workers and their families, according to a June 2015 report published by OSHA.

A well-designed physical ability test (PAT) program can be a very effective risk management tool for businesses today. This is especially true of companies that operate within physically demanding fields – health care, construction, housekeeping or manufacturing, for instance – that tend to have higher than average worker injury rates, greatly increasing the cost of doing business. If you are considering investing in a PAT program for your company, one of the most important factors in making a final decision is ensuring the cost-effectiveness of the effort.

Does your business operate in a physically demanding industry? Are you losing employees due to on-the-job injuries? If you have done all you can to improve workplace safety – taken environmental precautions, updated safety equipment, employee training, and so on – with little effect in terms of preventing workplace injuries and injury-related turnover, you may be starting to think that high injury rates and the accompanying turnover are simply a cost of doing business in your field.

Workplace heath and safety concerns are a priority for most employers today, given the steep human and financial costs of on-the-job injuries and illnesses. Then, of course, there are the costs and hassles involved in running afoul of OSHA requirements, which provide a strong incentive to prioritize safety as well as regulatory compliance. However, as any employer who strives to keep their operation compliant knows, those requirements, like those of any government agency, are not always clear and user-friendly.

If your company has a solid, science-based, EEOC compliant pre-employment physical abilities testing (PAT) program in place, chances are you’ve realized some important benefits since implementing that program – such as fewer on-the-job injuries, lower workers’ comp costs, and better employee retention, among others. However, if you’re only using PAT for pre-hire testing, you’re missing out on some other benefits that testing could offer if it were used throughout the life cycle of your workers.

Ergonomics is a term that most employers have heard tossed around by workplace safety and risk management experts, but many are not entirely clear on just what it means and why it is an important issue. The term itself means the “laws of work.” It comes from the Greek words ergon (“work”) and nomos (“laws”). The basic principle of ergonomics is to make sure the job environment – including tasks, work stations, tools, and equipment – is well-matched to the worker, minimizing stress on that worker’s body.