Job-site safety isn't an exciting topic,
but as insurance costs go up due to outstanding
injury losses and OSHA
penalties, it's one we can't ignore. Each
job-site injury has an associated medical
cost (see Figure 1) but that's just the
beginning.
Other costs are lost time, lost wages
(both of the injured, and of the person
assigned to take them to a medical
facility if required), job interruption,
possible penalties as a result of the
injury, scheduling problems, and, finally,
all of the associated paperwork that
can and generally does run into hundreds
of dollars' worth of staff time per
incident. Administering the paperwork
for major injuries can run into thousands
of dollars over several years.
On top of