Workplace Safety Tips to Avoid Workers' Compensation Claims

If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably familiar with workers’ compensation, a way of covering employees who are hurt on the job. Of course, you want your employees to be safe and productive, and in an ideal world, you would never have to rely on coverage. That’s not entirely within your control, but making smart decisions related to workers’ compensation and workplace safety can help keep your employees safe. Here’s how you can address some workplace health and safety hazards.

Tips for Ensuring Workplace Safety for Employees

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers helpful resources for small business owners who want to make their workplace as safe as possible, including an extensive, free Small Business Safety and Health Handbook. The agency suggests five steps to take to ensure employee safety.

1. Examine OSHA’s Safety Rules and Regulations

The way you protect your employees, and your workplace, depends on what kind of business you own. Obviously, the safety rules and regulations on a farm will be different than those of a retail store. Do some research on requirements that apply to your industry.  These rules can aid in mitigating regulatory fines, liability exposures; and help protect and educate your family or employees from potentially unforeseen hazardous circumstances.

2. Assign Responsibilities

Using the OSHA rules to assign responsibilities to your staff helps them become safety partners within your business. Allowing your team members to take ownership of a safety focused task can create a sense of pride and accomplishment throughout your organization. For instance, an employee might be made responsible for ensuring that fire extinguishers and alarms are regularly checked and replaced when necessary. When the whole team invests in on the job safety, then everyone feels responsibility and invests in supporting these important protocols.

3. Complete a Workplace Analysis

It’s a good idea to routinely perform an analysis of the potential hazards and improvements in the workplace. Even small things like a loose floor tile or wet surfaces can create the potential for accidents — and those accidents are avoidable.

4. Create Health and Safety Solutions

Once you’ve identified workplace hazards and improvements, you’ll then be able to create policies and training protocols, benefiting both new and experienced employees. This is a great way to capitalize on your investment and cultivate a safer operation. 

5. Evaluate Training Practices

Periodically evaluating the way your employees are trained helps you ensure that your staff is receiving the most up-to date information, keeps veteran employees engaged and helps ensure your staff has an eye for workplace safety issues, making it more likely they’ll be able to identify and address these risks. Even small businesses in an office setting can train staff in avoiding repetitive motion injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Preparing Return-to-Work Programs

Staying accident-free starts with prevention. But, when workplace accidents do happen, you need to be ready to help employees through the situation and aid them in returning to the workplace. Return-to-work programs help employees get back to work as soon as they are medically able, which helps reduce workers’ compensation costs and improves productivity.

Return to work programs can show employees you care about their well-being. Providing an outline of what happens following a work comp injury can provide a sense of security knowing there is a plan to get them back to work, possibly alleviating stress. When preparing your return to work program, consider providing specific directions to first aid supply locations and a list of emergency contact information for all employees. Having this information documented before an incident allows you to focus on the employee’s needs during an emergency. It will also help you and the employee stay in touch so you can support them on their healing journey and help them return to the workplace in a timely fashion. 

In the event someone is hurt, you’ll want to set up a transitional employment plan based on the needs of the specific employee. This allows you to put the person back into work with a modified assignment until they are cleared to be back to normal.

Protect Your Workers and Your Business

Don’t be fooled into thinking workers’ compensation isn’t necessary for your business. If you have questions about workers’ compensation insurance, reach out to your local Farm Bureau agent to help keep your business covered.