InjuryFree CEO, Trent Shuford

At InjuryFree, we believe in a world where peoples’ work environments are safe, and injury-free.  This is accomplished through prevention of injuries by promoting personal responsibility in health and safety. If we focused on prevention first, work would become a place where people gain the skills, knowledge and capability to reach these goals.

Work environments go through many changes and with those changes one fact is true; having a healthy workforce in a safe environment, working injury-free, will save your company money. Currently, over a billion dollars a week is spent by companies on injury related hard costs, not to mention the hidden costs!

The reactive injury response process has led to increased claims costs and a medical service model that has become too expensive. Both employers and employees are feeling the rising cost of healthcare with higher premiums, insurance deductibles and co-pays. The cost of healthcare and regulatory compliance is driving companies to transition from a reactive process, to preventing injuries before they occur. Focused correctly, prevention can reduce if not eliminate risk that results in injuries.  Prevention does require time and a financial investment, but the return on investment in prevention becomes a bigger opportunity for businesses year after year. The value of prevention unfolds over time and its benefits are decreased absenteeism, fewer health expenditures, increased productivity and profit. For businesses, prevention provides a competitive advantage for those proactive, World Class companies.

Change is needed; we can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result!

Wouldn’t you agree…?

If you are interested in transitioning your organization to a prevention model that helps employees first, we at InjuryFree would like to partner with you. Contact us today and we will work together to identify solutions that reduces your workplace risk, prevents injuries, and increases workers’ productivity for a competitive advantage.

Thank you!

Trent Shuford, CEO

Other key benefits to wellness programs include:

• Greater loyalty and employee retention. Nearly 70% of employees that participate in a wellness program are more likely to stay with an employer
• Employees who participate in a wellness program report better health and are less costly for the company’s medical program
• Wellness programs are correlated with financial health. Forty-eight percent of employees who participate in a wellness program say they feel in control of their finances. Good health is associated with the opportunity to earn a living and accumulate wealth

Despite these key benefits, health and wellness programs are only utilized between a range of 10%-39% of employers. Amongst the top industries utilizing health and wellness programs include non-profits, manufacturing and health care companies, and large companies with more than 1,000 employees.

Click here to read the Annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends

Our comments:

One component that is missing from the study is the importance of health/wellness programs as a method to prevent employee injury. These programs help to encourage a culture focused on prevention – treating the body and addressing risk before the onset of an injury happens.

For more information in how InjuryFree implements an onsite prevention and rehabilitation center on-site, please visit our Employee Maintenance Center page.

Lead author Diana Fernandez, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the URMC Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, said her study is among many that associate high job pressure with cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, depression, exhaustion, anxiety and weight gain. It’s time to improve corporate policies that better protect the health of workers.

“In a poor economy, companies should take care of the people who survive layoffs and end up staying in stressful jobs,” Fernandez said. “It is important to focus on strengthening wellness programs to provide good nutrition, ways to deal with job demands, and more opportunities for physical activity that are built into the regular workday without penalty.”

Over and over, Fernandez’s team heard the same story from the upstate workers: after spending the day sitting in stressful meetings or at their computers, they looked forward to going home and “vegging out” in front of the TV.

Anecdotally, researchers also discovered that when pink slips were circulating, the snacks highest in fats and calories would disappear quickest from the vending machines. Some workers said they did not take the time to eat well or exercise at lunch because they were fearful of repercussions from leaving their desks for too long.

Approximately 32 percent of adult men and 35 percent of adult women are obese in this country. When the prevalence of overweight and obesity are combined, 68 percent of adults fit the category (72 percent prevalence among men; 64 percent among women), according to a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In conclusion, the study suggests that workplace wellness programs should not only offer ideas on how to be healthy, but should examine the organizational structure and provide ways to minimize a stressful environment for everyone.

Read the full article here.

Source: University of Rochester Medical Center (2010, March 25). Study connects workplace turmoil, stress and obesity. ScienceDaily. Retrieved Apr 15.

My favorite quote about stress is: “Are you stressed? Just turn it around and you have desserts!!!” Works for me! But did you know the true facts?

• 75% of the general population experiences at least “some stress” every two weeks (National Health Interview Survey)
• Half of those experience moderate or high levels of stress during the same two-week period.
• Millions of Americans suffer from unhealthy levels of stress at work. (A study several years ago estimated the number to be 11 million–given events since that time, this number has certainly more than tripled–studies in Sweden, Canada, and other Westernized countries show similar trends.)
• Worker’s compensation claims for “mental stress” in California rose 200-700% in the 1980s (whereas all other causes remained stable or declined!)
• Stress contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, and other illnesses in many individuals.
• Stress also affects the immune system, which protects us from many serious diseases.
• Tranquilizers, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications account for one fourth of all prescriptions written in the U.S. each year.
• Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction, and other harmful behaviors.

Although we all face stressful situations, I think it comes down to what you do with that stress. Tonight instead of letting ourselves get stressed due to; traffic, family issues, money, work, etc… Enjoy the night, listen to the birds, take a short walk, sit in a dark room, take a warm bath. Take some time for you! And let leave that stress behind, if only for one night.

Sources:

1) Healthy People 2000, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2) “Prevention of Work-Related Psychological Disorders”: A National Strategy Proposed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), American Psychologist, Vol. 45, No. 10, October 1990.

3) CBS Television News (700% increase in worker’s compensation claims in California during the 1980s).

Prepared and distributed by The Health Resource Network, Inc., a non-profit health education organization.

The Word Health Organization (WHO) organized today’s event in an effort  to raise awareness in health across the globe.

Communities are encouraged to open their city streets for health-related activities. This year’s campaign, “1000 cities – 1000 lives” invites participants to submit photos and stories related to their involvement in raising awareness of health in local communities.

Education is an important awareness tool. InjuryFree is proud to be presenting to the Washington Chapter of ASSE today, discussing ways to increase the health and function of employees. Come see the presentation if you are in Washington! In addition, I will be submitting photos on Facebook today about all the ways that InjuryFree is working to increase the health of employees everywhere.

What are you doing to increase the health of your community? Or yourself? Or your family? Share your stories!

Multiple research findings establish that having adequate serum levels of Vitamin D substantially lowers incidence rates for many  cancers, including breast, colon, ovary, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and several others. Information on the Vitamin D Seminar is available here.

I have been reading more and more about the positive effects that Vitamin D can have.  I am looking forward to the new information that will come out as a result of this seminar on April 9^th. I am wondering if anyone out there has started taking their Vitamin D supplements? If so have you had any positive effects noted? Any negative?

To read more from Stephen Miller’s report on the Principal Financial Well-Being Index survey, click here.

CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is one of the most important safety skills which you can possess. It is important to receive proper CPR training for a number of reasons. One of the most important reasons for receiving proper CPR training is that it can be used to in the case of cardiac arrest before emergency personnel arrive. By understanding how to properly perform CPR, you very well could save someone’s life.

Many people misunderstand CPR and believe that the purpose of this procedure is to restart someone’s heart when it has stopped beating. This is actually not quite accurate. The real purpose behind CPR is to provide a continual flow of oxygenated blood to the major organs, including the heart and the brain. This will delay the death of tissue as well as extend the opportunity of resuscitating the individual without permanent brain damage occurring. Advanced life support and defibrillation are needed to actually restart the heart. Nevertheless, CPR can be an important link in the life saving process.

Proper first-aid training can also be beneficial. While almost everyone could apply a bandage if the situation called for it, there are many situations which could arise in the workplace, at home, while driving down the road or on vacation in which proper first-aid techniques could be beneficial. Emergency first-aid refers to the initial care of an illness or injury. In situations where an injury or illness is severe, proper first-aid can literally mean the difference between life and death. First-aid may involve stemming the flow of blood, applying a splint to a broken bone or treating a severe burn.

Becoming CPR and first-aid certified typically requires attending a one day training session. The session commonly lasts approximately eight hours. While an individual could receive training for just CPR or just first-aid, knowing proper techniques for both truly is important.

While it would be hoped that you would never need to use the techniques, you never know when you might need to apply an emergency splint, rescue someone from choking or use CPR for someone who is experiencing cardiac arrest.

Interested in Learning about CPR but not sure where to go? The American Red Cross is a great place to start! Learn more about the CPR programs and courses offered in your neighborhood by clicking here!

Cited from CFO.com January 13th by Alix Stuart

In a recent article published on CFO.com, the author contends that less than half (around 40%) of companies using wellness programs such as employee-assistance or health-improvement programs actually see a return on investment. In fact, he reports that only 19% of companies can capture the costs of using these programs, and 62% underestimate the amount they spend.

Amongst the reasons why wellness programs can be problematic in determining a return on investment are:

• They are difficult to quantify
• The programs are managed often by multiple vendors (no streamlining) – over 58% of employers utilizing wellness programs have two to five vendors
• There is a lack of discipline – changing employee health behavior can be challenging

To read  “Do Wellness Programs Make Cents?” click here

The article Wellness Efforts Face Hurdle published in The Wall Street Journal reports that employers who offer cash incentives for employees or insurance-premium reductions to complete health surveys are in violation of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This law restricts employers’ and health insurers’ ability to collect and disclose genetic information including family medical history.

According to the article, employers are frustrated  by this restriction claiming that financial incentives are needed to boost participation in wellness programs. Incentives include cash, gift cards or discounts – 64% of those employers who offer wellness programs use incentives to motivate employees to participate.

In debating about the new health care reform act, this issue is becoming even more problematic as to where incentives will play within wellness participation.

By complying within the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, how can employers design a wellness program specifically targeting the prevention or treatment of an illness? Click to read more…