OSHA report on costs of injuries, illnesses reveal increased obligations for employees

March 11th, 2015 by Dakota Software Staff Industry News

A recent report from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that, in general, employees end up bearing a significant portion of the cost of injuries and illnesses that occur during working hours. What is more significant, according to the report, is that the share of cost for which the employee is responsible has grown in recent years. For OSHA, which ultimately advocates for the rights and protections of employees as individuals and groups, this is less-than-encouraging news. The regulatory agency pointed to problems with state-based workers' compensation in the report as another factor in the shifting of injury and illness costs to workers.

Safety and Health Magazine said the main drive of the report is OSHA calling on organizations to take a larger role in the protection of staff following work-related injuries and illnesses. This call for change comes along with OSHA's request that state-level workers' compensation authorities make procedural changes that will result in a better experience and higher overall satisfaction for the injured and ill employees in the program. OSHA also reported that the costs borne by other stakeholders in the process will continue to place stress on local and state governments, families and others.

Issues with certain employee types noted
One of the points highlighted in OSHA's executive summary of the report was the difficulty some businesses have with effectively and safely utilizing temporary staff members. Because these workers won't remain with a company in the long term, deficiencies in terms of training and safety education tend to arise more frequently. Examples of this problem have been seen in recent high-profile OSHA cases where temporary workers have been involved in dangerous incidents. This is one area that can be directly addressed and changed for the better by businesses. An examination of current training procedures and changes made to improve those programs can go a long way toward reducing instances of injury and illness among temporary staff.

The potential for change
The impact of OSHA's report on its overall operations and inspection schedules remains to be seen. The organization's overall message is clear, however: It wants to increase the responsibility of businesses as it relates to injured and ill staff. Safety compliance will continue to be a vital part of business activities and certain aspects may soon be emphasized more by OSHA.