A number of recent studies show that workers do not stay home if they are sick because they cannot afford to take time off. Even if workers have paid sick days, they are often afraid to use this time because they do not want their companies to question their dedication.
This same phenomenon occurs when workers are injured on the job. Some injuries are serious and reporting them cannot be avoided. However, The Midwest Disability Blog reported on a study of construction workers found that workers are not likely to report on-the-job injuries:
“Despite being eligible to obtain workers’ compensation benefits for a work-related injury, a new study performed by researchers from Duke University Medical Center, the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters and the Carpenters District Council of Great St. Louis and Vicinity revealed that more than 30 percent of injuries sustained by carpenters are not reported or rarely reported.”
Some workers fear being punished or pressured to not report an injury, and some even fear being fired for alerting management if they sustain an injury at work.
Although the study examined the practices of union carpenters, researchers felt that “the problem most likely included all types of workers and added that “the problem of not reporting injuries is a larger issue than what was revealed in the study.”
Whatever your workplace policy regarding reporting injuries may be, it is best to avoid employee injury altogether. Ergonomic material handling solutions can help your employees avoid injury. We manufacture power movers and industrial tuggers that eliminate the pain and strain of manual pulling heavy carts and wheeled equipment.