Laying Down the Law: EEOC and ADA Expectations for Return to Work
No employer wants to get on the wrong side of the EEOC and ADA, given the potential legal and financial consequences of running afoul of employment regulations. However, compliance is not always easy to define given the ambiguity present in some areas of these regulations. Expectations for return to work, for instance, are an area […]
Pre-Employment Physical Abilities Testing: The Devil’s in the Details
A Pre-hire Physical Ability Test (PAT) program works to ensure that workers you hire are well-matched in terms of physical capabilities to the everyday demands of the jobs into which they will be placed. The testing adds a new element of accuracy to the hiring process, reducing bad hires and employee turnover. PAT also increases […]
Caught in the Grip of Repetitive Trauma Injuries
Many employers struggle with repetitive trauma injuries to the hand, wrist, and elbow – along with their close cousins, carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. Although the causes of these conditions are often multifactorial, occurring on – as well off – the job, some work-related activities are thought to contribute. Gauging Applicants’ Grip Strength High on the list of likely […]
How On-the-Job Injuries Affect Your Mod Rate
When you think of the costs associated with workplace injuries, the costs of workers’ compensation claims is likely the first thing that springs to mind. With medical costs of the average-sized claim alone, nudging up against the $30,000 mark, that’s certainly understandable. However, these costs, eye-opening as they are, do not tell the entire story. […]
Should You Look for the Skeletons in Your New Hire’s Closet?
Hiring new employees can be risky business, and hiring mistakes are costly. Aside from the cost of replacing a bad hire, which can, by some estimates, rise to as much as five times the person’s salary, a bad hiring decision can leave your company vulnerable to theft or violence, falsification of work histories, experience or […]
Hear No Evil: How to Protect Employees in a Noisy Workplace
Noise generally is not the first issue to spring to mind when the topic of designing an ergonomic workplace is being discussed. However, excessive noise can be a serious environmental hazard in the workplace, and is often identified as such in ergonomic assessments. Excessive noise is also an issue that is addressed by OSHA health […]
Why PAT is the Best Gift to Give Your Returning Employee
Do you use a candidate Physical Ability Test (PAT) in your workplace? If so, you know the potential of PAT in terms of increased workplace safety and decreased costs. However, if your only use of PAT is in the hiring process, you are not taking advantage of that test’s full potential. Physical Ability Testing can […]
How to Test for Heavy Lifting Demands
It’s not just the law that makes complying with OSHA standards for occupational safety and health a priority for employers. Protecting the well-being of workers is just good business – after all, good people are hard to find, so savvy employers take good care of them. Complying with regulations and avoiding the hassle and expense […]
Did Swift Transportation Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater?
When the nation’s fifth largest truckload carrier’s quarterly results fails to meet expectations, people are bound to notice. That’s all the more true since long-haul trucking companies are a weather vane and harbinger of future change in the larger economy. A recent online article in the Wall Street Journal cited several reasons for Swift Transportation’s recent financial […]
5 Ways This Important Safety Tool Benefits Your Workers
Any employer who has borne the costs of workers’ comp injuries knows only too well the financial impact that accidents and injuries can have on individual businesses. However, as steep as direct and indirect costs employers pay out for workers’ comp claims are, they pale in comparison to the financial impact these injuries can have […]
