‘Best Practices’ Improve Outcomes for Injured Workers, Prevent Injuries

OSHA this January reported that a new study on occupational health care in Washington State has been released showing that improving medical care for injured workers can significantly lessen lost work time. The study, published in the December 2011 issue of Medical Care, a publication of the American Public Health Association, involved Dr. Gary Franklin, medical director for the Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), which implements the state's and OSHA’s occupational safety and health standards.

The L&I program complements the OSHA 30 certification (for supervisors) and OSHA 10 hour training (for workers) that a majority of employers today require in Washington and elsewhere to improve health and safety conditions at worksites.

"Work-related disability is a major public health problem that's largely overlooked in the U.S.," Franklin pointed out. "This study shows that using occupational health best practices when treating injured workers can have an important effect on their recovery."

L&I's community-based Centers of Occupational Health and Education (COHE) coordinate with physicians, hospitals, and other medical providers to promote the best practices for treating injured workers. These "best practices" involve the best ways to effect the safe, healthy return of an injured worker to full function and full employment.
One of the highlights of the study was its discovery that injured workers treated by health-care providers who followed COHE protocols achieved 19.7 percent fewer disability days than other injured workers receiving treatment. That reduction translated to $510 per claim in total disability and medical costs. Workers with back strain, for instance, reduced their disability days by 29.5 percent.

Although most construction employers nowadays require OSHA 30 certification for supervisors and OSHA 10 hour training for workers (some even look for 40 Hour HAZWOPER training) to minimize or prevent worksite accidents, injuries, even fatalities, still happen every year due to faulty compliance. OSHA inspections are meant to effect full compliance with OSHA standards and regulations.

During a programmed inspection of an Illinois worksite under a Local Emphasis Program (LEP) on Falls, OSHA compliance safety and health officer Tony Nozzi ordered immediate remedies after he discovered that a roofing contractor's employees and a building-restoration employee were working on a church roof without any fall protection. The on-site remedies he required were for all employees to strap on harnesses and lanyards and for them to secure themselves with rope grabs.

After the inspection, an employee, by then properly strapped, started work on the church steeple. Shortly after, he slipped and would have slid right off the edge of the pitched roof had it not been for his lifeline and lanyard. The worker was shaken but unharmed, and he was able to carry out his task.

OSHACampus.com, a leading provider of online OSHA training, offers OSHAcampus.com safety 10 Hour Training and OSHAcampus.com 30 hour Certification Training for workers, supervisors, and contractors.