Managing Workers Compensation Exposures as Workforce Ages

Employers can take action to reduce the frequency of injuries and help their employees remain fit and in a better position to recover following an injury.

Forward-looking strategies that combine integrated wellness programs, job design, and ergonomics can help employers maintain a healthy, productive workforce, and reduce workers’ compensation costs.

An aging workforce could mean higher workers’ compensation costs for US businesses, but you can counter those costs through strategies that include wellness programs, job design, and ergonomics.

The cost to employers when older workers are injured can be much higher than when younger employees are injured. Obesity and other comorbidities common to older employees could also extend recovery times. But you can take action to reduce the frequency of injuries and help your employees remain fit and better able to recover following an injury.

In “Managing Workers’ Compensation Exposures as the Workforce Ages,” we cover how you can counter the aging of your workforce by:

• Introducing integrated wellness programs that promote healthy behavior by employees on a 24-hour basis.
• Factoring visual, physical, and mental demands on older workers into the design of jobs and specific job tasks.
• Making physical engineering improvements to reduce shoulder, knee, and other injuries that older workers are more likely to suffer.