The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released the “Powered Industrial Trucks (Forklift) eTool,” its latest online safety-training resource. OSHA exists to ensure that all employers provide a safe workplace for employees by establishing and enforcing occupational standards as well as providing training and education on related topics; the agency maintains a strong presence in the industrial marketplace. The eTools, which date back to 1998, are interactive, Web-based training tools that cover a specific occupational safety or health topic. The Forklift eTool is the latest to join a library of more than 160 topics.

OSHA developed the content with input from expert members of the Alliance Program. The program partners OSHA representatives with labor unions, trade and professional associations, and educational institutions for regular cooperative interaction. Specific contributors to the Forklift publication included the Industrial Truck Association; the Association of Equipment Manufacturers; the American Forest and Paper Association; the Pulp and Paper Safety Association; and the Precision Metalforming Association.

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One of the best arguments as to the importance of safety to a business/organization is the cost or worker’s comp.  I recently came across this article be Bill Reynolds who has a website where you can estimate the true cost of your company’s worker comp cost.  I hope you find this article as interesting as I did and it helps you with your fight to keep safety a top priority.

A worker injury not only creates a workers compensation insurance claim. It immediately creates financial waste throughout your organization. As an example, according to OSHA, for every $1 of medical only claims your organization sustains $4.5 in indirect, uninsured costs. At first blush you would think that this is a small number. In fact, it is like bleeding a slow death.

Let’s assume that your organization averages 20 medical only claims a year and that every medical only claim pays workers compensation benefits of $550. This means that your workers compensation adjuster is paying $11,000 a year. However, using the OSHA estimate of indirect costs, your organization also incurs $49,500. This reflects the financial waste and inefficiency throughout your organization. As a result, these 20 medical only claims actually cost your organization $60,500. Assuming a 5% pre-tax profit, this also means that your organization must sell $1,210,000 each year to pay the total cost of these 20 medical only claims. How many employees must you hire to produce goods and services to generate these sales?

Workers compensation disability claims produce more amazing results. According to OSHA, for every $1 of workers compensation disability payments the organization insures between $2 and $10 of uninsured, indirect costs. To be conservative let’s assume that the ration is 2:1. Also, let’s assume that your organization has 10 workers compensation disability claims and each averages $12,500. Your workers compensation adjuster would pay $125,000 for these workers compensation claims. Also, using the conservative OSHA ration of 2:1 your organization would also sustain $250,000 in indirect, uninsured costs. This additional cost reflects the waste and inefficiency throughout your organization. Again assuming a 5% pre-tax profit, the total cost of these disability injuries ($375,000) requires your organization to generate $9,375,000 in sales to pay for these 10 workers compensation disability injuries. Again, how many employees must you hire to produce goods and services to generate these sales?

I invite you to take five minutes to estimate your TOTAL COST of worker injuries using OSHA estimates in the privacy of your office. It is on-line and available 24-7. To find out more go to www.comperaser.com. These resources also include injury prevention, OSHA compliance, safety training, prompt injury response, workers compensation disability management, plus more. These resources are available 24/7 and used irrespective of which workers compensation carrier you select. Its patent-pending technology also provides unique financial reports for monitoring the effectiveness of your safety and health program on an on-going basis.
   

Last April, The Compliance Resource Center reported that NIOSH, OSHA and NHCA (National Hearing Conservation Assoication), recently signed and agreement  to help prevent work-related hearing loss.
Now researchers at NIOSH’s Pittsburgh Research Laboratory have developed QuickFitWeb, an online tool to allow users to check their hearing protection in a minute or less. The site notes that ear muffs, ear plugs, and other hearing protection devices can reduce the risk of hearing loss, but only if the wearer gets a good fit and wears them properly. The NIOSH sound player tool allows users to perform a quick test of whether they are getting at least a minimal 15 decibel (dB) level of protection.

The test sounds are bands of random noise with a center frequency of 1000 Hz. This is the same type of sound used in standard hearing protector ratings including the “American National Standard Methods for Measuring the Real-Ear Attenuation of Hearing Protectors” (ANSI S12.6). Both tracks are the same, but the second track is 15 decibels (dB) louder than the first. Most hearing protectors will block or “attenuate” sound by more than 15 dB if they are the right size and shape to fit the ears and are worn correctly. A sound that is barely audible at a worker’s threshold of hearing without hearing protection should be inaudible though hearing protection even if it’s boosted by 15 dB.

To use the tool, visit www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/topics/hearingloss/quickfitweb.htm.