Worker Safety- Feature Sample

J U N E 2 0 2 2 | W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

WORKER SAFETY

O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E W I R E A S S O C I AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L

F E AT U R E

Worker Safety The topic is universal: both employees and employers want a safe work place. This feature does not focus on Covid. Rather, it returns to how a person on the shop floor who is tired or distracted or just having a bad day can see it quickly turn worse. It includes success stories, a list of injuries that should not have happened, and more.

Work injuries are expensive, more so for an aging workforce A work injury is horrible for the employee, but it also hurts the employer. OSHA’s website includes a cost estimator—https://www.osha.gov/safetypays/estimator—for a range of occupational injuries and illnesses that also provides the estimated impact they have to a company’s profitability worksheet.

The program uses a company’s profit margin, the average costs of an injury or illness, and an indirect-cost multiplier to project the amount of sales a company would need to generate to cover those costs. A company is responsible for the indirect costs. The extent to which the employer pays the direct costs depends on the nature of the employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy.

The page opens to a standard setting that a company can adjust for its particulars. At the standard setting, if one chooses the term “electric shock,” the direct cost is $158,218, and the indirect costs at $174,039 for a total cost of $332,257. The sales needed to cover the indirect costs is $5,801,326 and the total cost is $11,075,233.

The equivalent estimation for an amputation is $96,003, $105,603, $201,606, $3,520,110 and $6,720,200. For a fracture it is $54,856, $60,341, $115,197, $2,011,386 and $3,839,900; for a sprain it is $30,487, $33,535, $64,022, $1,117,856 and $2,134,066; and for a laceration it is $21,872, $24,059, $45,931, $801,973 and $1,531,033.

These are estimates, but whatever the actual figures may be, employees and employers both have great incentive to reduce work injuries.

36

W I R E J O U R N A L I N T E R N AT I O N A L J U N E 2 0 2 2

In terms of workers’ compensation costs, one concern is the tight labor market. Per a blog by the International Risk Management Institute Inc., this impacts every industry. Wages rise as businesses compete for workers, which translates to higher costs for consumers. The labor shortage partially stems from caregiving challenges due to school and childcare closures, and some economists believe the labor shortage may be a permanent change as the pandemic accelerated the retirement of the baby boomers.

With workers’ compensation premiums tied to payrolls, fewer workers mean fewer premiums, and while higher wages may offset this somewhat, overall industry premiums are down. Additionally, inadequately trained staff, longer shifts, and fatigue could lead to increased claims frequency.

And, no getting around it, older employees cost more when it comes to injuries. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2000, 32.4% of the U.S. population aged 55 or older worked; by 2020, that share had climbed to 39.2%. In 2021, 23% of the U.S. workforce was older than 55, up from the 13% reported by the BLS in 2000.

Average costs incurred for injured workers 55 and older are 50% higher than for those aged 25-34. Injured workers aged 55 and older accrue 40% more lost-workday claims than those aged 25-34. By 2030, the BLS projects that workers 55 and up will account for 26% of all claims.

It is a balancing act, as multiple reports indicate that older employees can also be the most reliable and dependable.

W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

F E AT U R E

AFL wins 5 safety awards for Spartanburg plants AFL, a leading global manufacturer of fiber optic cable, connectivity and accessories, received five plant safety awards for manufacturing locations at its U.S. headquarters located in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

AFL was recognized by the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance (SCMA), the only statewide association dedicated to the interests of manufacturers. It assesses facilities for lost workdays, job transfers or restrictions below statewide manufacturing averages.

Since AFL’s inception in 1984, safety has always been a key priority. Its programs start with employee onboarding.

New employees start their first day with an EHS training session that covers AFL’s safety programs. The new hires get hands-on instruction, partnered with an existing AFL employee for job-specific training and job shadowing. Ongoing specific trainings—such as lockout tagout, emergency response and ISO 14001 awareness—are provided as employees learn and understand manufacturing processes to strengthen core areas.

Involvement in reporting and correcting hazards is stressed. In AFL’s Hazard Hound program, employees submit safety recommendations to remove or reduce hazards and for general safety improvements. Those go to the EHS for review, and each month the top Hazard Hound

AFL’s South Carolina EHS Team (l-r): Christopher Craig, Collin Desjardins, Clay Warner, Frances Marchant, Geoff VanderVeen and Beverly Densmore. (Missing is Lindsay Forester). submissions are selected. Employees are recognized and awarded prizes. All valid submissions are considered, allowing employees to identify and recommend solutions, and to be acknowledged for being proactive.

Safety takes more than specific processes. It takes an awareness of employees plus consistent training. What drives AFL is our employees’ commitment to working safely and going home in the same or better condition.

The human element: a key source of errors that led to injuries Fatal work injuries are rare in the wire and cable industry, but worker injuries are not. The U.S. Department of Labor reports 1,176,340 cases of a worker missing at least one day in 2020 because of injuries/illnesses. Covid distorts the numbers, making it difficult to parse out sectors, but below are summaries of past wire industry injuries reported to OSHA that serve as reminders of the everyday risks.

An employee was holding a wire from a wire-drawing machine with a rag. The rag got caught on the draw block and pulled the employee’s hand into the machine, causing the amputation of two fingers.

An employee had placed a machine in slow-speed mode and was wiping the inbound feed roller. The employee’s left hand was caught between the roller and steel material. Their left index finger was injured and was subsequently medically amputated.

Employees use a draw machine to extrude wire. The employee bypassed the guard or disabled it to remove soap build-up on the wire coming from the die. The employee amputated the middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the right hand and the first digit of the index finger. Employee was hospitalized and released.

An employee was searching for the weld in the wire and suffered an amputation to the right index fingertip when the finger was pinched by the wire annealing machine.

An employee was treated at the hospital after falling approximately five feet to the concrete floor below while descending nine-foot portable stairs. The employee tore his rotator cuff and received stitches to his left elbow. The employee was attempting to dislodge a chain attached to an overhead crane at the time of the incident. The employee was unloading wire mesh from a delivery truck.

An employee was working with a wire sizing machine when a spool of wire became unraveled and the employee’s finger was caught behind the spool resulting in a partial amputation. (section continued)

W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

J U N E 2 0 2 2 W I R E J O U R N A L I N T E R N AT I O N A L

37