In the December 2008 issue of EHS Today, Frank Pennachio wrote an article entitled “Beating the Stress of Workplace Injuries“.  In this article he talks about how it is possible for an employee to lose a job after being on medical leave due to a workplace injury.  Frank focuses on the stress, self esteem issues and social implications that this job loss causes.

We are all too familiar with job loss, its effect on society and vice versa. In his article Frank speaks about implementing a good Return-To-Work Program that guides safety professionals through what to do after a workplace injury, instead of just focusing on preventing the injury in the first place.  He says that after an injury companies must focus on proper medical treatment, a reasonable length of recovery and most importantly getting that individual back to work.  Keeping the hurt employee’s self esteem up and stress level down is very important.  Frank states that according to studies every time the unemployment rate increases 1 percent, there are 6000 more recorded deaths each year.

That is a scary number, especially looking at the unemployment rates today.   It’s easy to see that workplace injuries directly affect society.  Does your company focus on getting employees back to work, or does a workplace injury signify another job loss?

Pennachio, Frank. “Beating the Stress of Workplace Injuries.” EHS Today Dec. 2008: 29

Filed under: Workplace Safety by Beth Faraci Social tagging: workplace injury