How Much Does An Injury Impact Your Workplace?

Someone being injured on the job can be a big problem depending on the size and cause of the injury.Injuries not only affect time and work lost during the incident itself, but also afterwards if the person is unable to return to work right away.They can also affect the morale of the people involved in the accident and those who knew the person involved.Much like other rumor and innuendo about why someone was promoted over someone else who seems more qualified, injury rumors can have a severely negative impact on the outlook of employees all over the company.

An injury at the workplace is no fun, especially if the only thing that other employees can do is call 9-1-1.While calling 9-1-1 is the most important thing that anyone can do in an emergency, it doesn't do anything to bolster an employee's feelings of empowerment or to help the employees feel safe in the workplace.
It takes a trained person who takes charge and can direct people in what to do to make people feel safe, and if everyone is trained in the appropriate response to an emergency, the company stands a better chance of having what could be a very negative experience turn into a very positive experience that builds a team better than any team building training could.
Training in handling emergencies is a s simple as getting everyone CPR and first aid trained.The classes run about six hours and provide all of the basics needed to handle any emergency.People are trained in keeping themselves and others safe, calling 9-1-1 and providing care until the emergency medical team arrives.While it is unlikely that CPR will ever be used in most workplaces, the opportunity to use first aid care arises more often.Whether it is bandaging a finger or taking care of a broken leg, first aid training is every bit as important and often times more useful than CPR.Both trainings empower employees by giving them something to do during an emergency.The worst feeling that anyone can feel is that of being powerless.When you see your friend collapse, do you want to know that all you could do was call 9-1-1, or do you want to know that you had the skills to save a life and you were able to use them when the need arose?
When an accident that results in injury happens, often times, all of the work in the area stops as people gather around to see what went wrong and to take pictures with their cell phones.Even when they can't do anything because they are untrained or all of the emergency assignments have been assigned, people will stop to stare.The scene may be horrific, but it is the human compulsion to watch the train wreck.Those who do return to their work stations will not really engage in work as their thoughts will be with the injured person, and until they have information about the other employee's condition, their work output will be in a depressed state because they will not be able to give their full attention to the work at hand.
An injury that carries over into loss work time for an employee means that others will have to pick up the slack while the injured person is out of the office.While this might be acceptable done over the course of a week, an injury that keeps someone from working for more than a couple of weeks will put a strain on the workplace that can lead to a loss in productivity and revenue.