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THE COST OF INJURIES
Numbers That Matter!
The cost of injuries is one of the biggest drivers that motivate employers to take action, however, employees take the brunt of the “human costs” of MSDs through unnecessary pain and suffering, loss of income, stress, conflict, and more.
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Employees deserve to go to work every day and return home to their families in the same or better condition than when they arrived. Employers should reap the benefits of happy, productive employees from the first day on the job until retirement. The only way to achieve this is through balance. Our process creates a solid foundation for long term success and builds a structure which allows balance to exist on a daily basis.
The most costly work-related injuries are Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). MSDs are reported by persons in the U.S. more than any other health condition. The estimated total cost of treatment and lost wages associated with musculoskeletal disorders is $849 billion dollars, equal to 7.7 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
Even the most moderate of calculations put the annual costs of MSDs at over $380 billion, every year, in the U.S. alone!
There are over 500,000 carpal tunnel surgeries and more than 800,000 back surgeries performed every year, in the United States alone.
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Back, shoulder, neck, wrist and knee injuries are the highest cost and the most common forms of MSD injuries. Sprains and strains account for over 40% of all lost-time injuries. For many years, back injuries and lower back pain (LBP) continue to be the number one business loss. OSHA calculations place a $60,000 price tag on just one back or other soft-tissue injury, however, the total cost can add up to $275,000 or more, over a three year period of time.
No company or organization, whether private or public can afford musculoskeletal injuries. When an organization takes a serious look at the costs related to these injuries (past, current and potential), then combines those losses with: decreased productivity, increased presenteeism (lost time resulting from fatigue, discomfort, pain and injuries), many stakeholders are surprised at the cost. Add DART days (Days Away, Restricted or Transferred), reduced morale and turnover to the equation and this data clearly shows that employers and employees alike suffer losses of hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars, every year. These unnecessary direct and indirect costs are typically the biggest expense for any organization, right under meeting payroll.
OSHA recently stated that, “MSD injuries destroy a family’s emotional and financial security and the toll on injured workers is intolerable.” They also said that “workplace MSD injuries are taking an enormous toll on the U.S. economy.” The fact is, as much money is spent on back injuries and back pain as is spent on cancer in the United States!
We can’t see a back injury and we don’t really know who is hurting and who is not, at any given time, but believe us the number is probably higher than you think. Employees seldom openly talk about how they feel and rarely speak about pain. These conditions rarely, if ever go away by themselves. Some of your employees may have back pain and some may have experienced a back injury already. If/when an injured worker is fortunate enough to return to work, they are then five times more likely to reinjure themselves.
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From our experience, many of your employees are currently experiencing early warning signs of a potential MSD injury. Also consider that people who have been seriously injured are not at work, they are at home. Their coworkers cannot see these injured colleagues and often are not given the opportunity to learn from these unfortunate situations.
Often a huge opportunity is missed, which might then allow all employees to potentially avoid the same situation for them. Open, honest communications are always the most successful strategy for preventing future injuries. Making good use of teachable moments is one key to our client's success!
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We realize that aging workforces and economic cycles exponentially increase risk and risk-taking. We also understand that changing long term behaviors and habits is challenging. This is AE's specialty and precisely what our education and skills training program will accomplish, with excellent results in every application - 100%. Our training programs actually change individual employee and workforce behaviors improve human efficiency, lower costs and more, all at the same time.
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The AE injury prevention system and process will add value to your health and safety program and substantially reduce risk/loss in your organization, while simultaneously eliminating preventable injuries and incidents.
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Absenteeism Costs 1.5 Billion Dollars a Year.
Presenteeism Costs 1.5 Trillion Dollars a Year!