How low can they go? Potential for reduction in work injury rates

Abstract

Background:There is a considerable variability in occupational injury rates across companies, even within the same industry. The aim of this study was to estimate how many injuries could be prevented if all firms could achieve the performance of their better peers.Method:Data were obtained from the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board of Ontario on all insured firms in the province. Within rate groups (firms in the same type of business) the number of injuries expected if all firms had a lost time injury rate at the 25th percentile of the distribution for the rate group were estimated. The total number of injuries were compared with the expected number, after adjusting for firm size and type of injury.Results:Overall, using the 25th percentile as a benchmark, 42% of lost time injuries in Ontario could be prevented.Discussion:There is considerable potential for prevention of work injuries based on currently achieved, non-optimal benchmarks.

An ecological study of regional variation in work injuries among young workers

“…However, this finding should not be taken as contradictory evidence that smaller workplaces have higher injury rates than larger workplaces, which has been found when comparing workplace injury rates [54,55]. First, our analysis is at the ecological level, and as such relationships found at the group level should not be extended to the level of the individual (i.e.…”

Workplace injuries and risk reduction practices in Malaysia

“…The increment in the premium charge had forced the companies to take vigorous preventive measures to make sure that injury rates are at the lowest level. 13 While the efforts reported in the USA have been effective in reducing injury trends, not much can be said in many other developing countries including Malaysia.…”

Variations in worker compensation claims by company—the potential for achieving a significant reduction in claims

“…The choice of a cutoff of 20 employees was arbitrary. We used 20 employees as the cutoff between large and small employers because we wished to be able to compare our results with the previous study conducted in Ontario which had used 20 employees as the cutoff [Shannon and Vidmar, 2004].…”

“…This article examines the potential reduction in workers' compensation claims in Michigan in 1999Michigan in , 2000Michigan in , and 2001 if each company within a given industry grouping performed as well (i.e., lower rate of claims) as the top 10% of companies in that industry. This analysis is a variation of a similar analysis conducted on Ontario data [Shannon and Vidmar, 2004].…”