Employers are facing unique challenges in recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new employees. Today, organizations see even greater competition for labor due to more workers seeking new opportunities and people leaving the workforce. From a safety standpoint, a potential increase in accidents and injuries in the first year of employment causes concern.
In PMA’s study of insurance clients from 2017 to 2021 (data valued as of December 2022), approximately 40% of non-healthcare lost-time workers’ compensation claims occur in the first year of employment – a trend that has been increasing since 2017. For healthcare employers, the rate of workers’ compensation lost-time claims in first-year employment is 30%.
Over half (55%) of lost-time claims (non-healthcare) involving employees with less than one year of employment are strains and slip and fall injuries, a consistent trend across many industry groups.
How can you address these challenges? A loss analysis of your first-year injuries (preferably three years of data) is a great first step to begin understanding the source and type of these injuries. Next, consider forming a team that reviews trends organization-wide so changes can be implemented (enlisting the support of your organization’s leadership where necessary). These two steps will give you a solid foundation to build a program to address first-year injuries.
Hiring Practices
Start with examining your hiring practices, ensuring that safety plays a role in hiring the right candidates. Consider these steps:
The Onboarding Process
Once a new employee is hired, onboarding is an important step in preventing injuries. Evaluate the following for your safety program:
First-Year Controls
To help ensure new employees remain accident free, consider having your supervisors and safety leaders take the following steps:
Employee Retention
Maintaining a strong safety culture is not only important in preventing workplace accidents and injuries, but may also help to retain employees. Employers are encouraged to:
Reducing first-year injuries requires prioritizing safety throughout the entire organization, starting with senior leadership. One of the lessons of the pandemic is that a strong culture with mission-focused work – along with a robust focus on safety – can help organizations become both great and safe places to work.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The information and suggestions presented by PMA Companies in this risk control technical bulletin are for your consideration in your loss prevention efforts. They are not intended to be complete or definitive in identifying all hazards associated with your business, preventing workplace accidents, or complying with any safety related or other laws or regulations. You are encouraged to alter the information and suggestions to fit the specific hazards of your business and to have your legal counsel review all of your plans and company policies. PMA Companies and Old Republic Companies do not provide legal advice and the information and suggestions in this bulletin should not be considered as such.