ergo maia

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued several new regulations in the last months of 2016, set to go into effect in January 2017. Since they were announced, the regulations have been subject to more than a little misinterpretation and confusion. Many employers are left wondering, for example, if they can still drug test employees who are injured on the job (they can). We share the following information, of course, with the understanding that the incoming Trump administration’s staunch anti-regulation stance may change things after the inauguration.

The bottom line is ultimately one of the most important things a business organization considers with every decision. As such, risky financial moves are often avoided. If your organization requires a labor force capable of physically demanding work, there is an easy way to mitigate financial risk: the implementation of Physical Abilities Testing.

The implementation of a pre-hire Physical Abilities Test (PAT) offers an employer many benefits, but when it comes to mitigating operational and productivity risk, a PAT is especially beneficial. We have previously explained how to mitigate compliance risk when implementing PAT. While avoiding all forms of risk is preferred, preventing operational risk is an immediate benefit of a proper PAT.

Employers who are hiring for physically demanding jobs can mitigate the risks associated with hiring candidates that don’t have the physical abilities to do the job, through the use of pre-hire Physical Abilities Tests (PAT). The improper use of PAT, however, can lead to another type of risk: compliance. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) specifically spell out the laws relating to these tools so that employers can be sure not to violate federal anti-discrimination laws. Some of the EEOC’s best practices include:

While maneuvering down the highway and passing the occasional tractor-trailer, have you ever stopped to think about what those drivers endure? Long-haul drivers, those who are on delivery routes that require them to spend a lot of time in the cab of a truck rather than at home, do not have the easiest of work environments. Truckers are sedentary for many hours, have little access to healthy foods, experience erratic sleep schedules and have to deal with the daily stresses of being on the road. It is no wonder truckers are more likely to have heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, as compared to other working U.S. adults.

In May 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) passed down a final rule to revise workplace injury recordkeeping practices in an effort to improve safety for U.S. workers.

Ever wondered what slips, trips and falls injuries are costing employers annually? Billions of dollars. $17.92 billion to be exact. That is the amount of direct workers’ compensation costs related to slips, trips and falls (STFs) injuries in the U.S. according to the 2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index of the top ten disabling workplace injuries that are nonfatal.

When 926 qualified women apply for entry-level warehouse laborer jobs and only six are hired, suspicion will develop. In the case of Gordon Food Service, Inc., a federal food service contractor located in Michigan, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) took notice and action.

Slips, trips and falls (STFs) can result in dangerous (even fatal) and costly outcomes. While these types of injuries can occur in many workplaces, there are certain industries that experience a higher incidence of STF’s: