It is up to employers to keep their workplaces reasonably safe and to ensure that their employees can enjoy an injury-free workday. If the employer does not do so, then they could be subject to a lawsuit or the employee can use their workers’ compensation policy to gain compensation for damages. However, employees can do things to stay safer at work too. This includes staying overall healthier.
Keep reading to learn how staying healthy can help an employee stay safer at work, then contact The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker at 800-333-0000 for a free legal consultation if you have been injured at work.
Employers Can Benefit from Setting Up Health and Wellness Programs
It is to an employer’s benefit to set up a health and wellness program if it could result in fewer injuries for their employees. This is because when an employee is injured at work, the employer could be responsible for insurance costs, medical costs, interruption in productivity, allocating labor to investigate the accident, and recruiting and training replacement workers.
In some cases, a worker’s injury can also result in damage to equipment and materials, legal costs for the employer, and reduced product quality when experienced workers must be replaced by less experienced workers.
What Employers Can Offer
If an employer wants to offer solutions to help keep their employees healthier, they might consider offering free or reduced-cost memberships to gyms, stocking the break room with healthy foods and beverages, encouraging employees to take walks after lunch, invite health care professionals to speak at work about stress reduction, and offering a good healthcare plan.
One Study Showed a Real Benefit
Not only can helping employees stay in good shape help reduce workplace injuries, but it can save money overall. One study found that for every dollar an employer spent on wellness programs, their medical costs went down by $3.27. They found that these types of programs help reduce the amount of sick leave taken, reduce the cost of health care, and reduce the money paid out to workers’ compensation.
Have You Been Injured at Work? Let Us Help You
While we would love to see employers take every possible step to keep their employees safe – including offering wellness programs – we know that there are injuries every day. If you have been victim to an injury at work, and it was due to someone acting negligently, then workers’ compensation might not be the best option for you.
To learn more about your options and how we can help you, contact The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker at 800-333-0000 for a free legal consultation.