Occupational Health Center Partnership for a Better Tomorrow

Every year, India witnesses numerous injuries and deaths of its citizens in factories. This burden weighs heavily on the employers as much as it affects the workers. The price of occupational injuries is expensive. Partnership with occupational health center service providers and the establishment of an occupational health center can benefit an employer by reducing the multifaceted, invisible costs that lurk in the premises of the industrial space in India. 

2.3 million deaths occur per year due to occupational injuries. In India, although there are acts to protect injured workers like the Employee Compensation Act (1923), and Employees State Insurance Act (1948), these acts only cover a minimal expense and compensate sparsely. Injuries can not only put the lives of workers at stake, it can also derail their ability to function as healthy, productive individuals. In scenarios like this, occupational health center services can provide the boost the workers need. Only if policies and programs are improved, can it help the existing compensation benefits and completely help an individual recover. Meanwhile, it is the responsibility of the employer to, in the first place, avoid the circumstances of occupational injuries by providing access to services from the occupational health center. 

Let’s find out how the invisible price of injuries can affect the employer and how occupational health center services can help tackle this expense and build a healthier and more powerful workforce. Read on! 

Occupational Injuries – The albatross around the employer’s neck

The following are the expensive ways in which occupational injuries affect employers: 

1. Training and Replacement Costs: They say, there’s plenty of fish in the ocean. But fishing for a worker is a time-consuming process. If a worker is injured and needs to be replaced, finding a new person to fill in the previous person’s place can be challenging and slow down the existing work. Even when a worker is found and hired, training the new person can take time, energy, and resources. In the absence of an occupational health center, this whole process is quite impossible too.
2. Cost of Reduced Productivity: An injured worker, weak in the body, cannot function using their complete potential. Injuries can take time to heal and lead to absenteeism. In this case, there may be an additional burden on other workers as well, which may lead to stress and exhaustion thus, causing them to underperform. In this way, the cycle of injuries keeps rolling, affecting the business in the long term.
3. Administrative Costs: The process of managing workplace injuries by filing paperwork, compensation claims, and dealing with administrative tasks is costly and time-consuming. Without the help of an occupational health center, this puts a lot of burden on the human resources and administrative staff as they would have to deal with the government agencies and insurance providers.
4. Cost of Damaged Reputation: Lack of occupational health center services can destroy the reputation of an organization. Recurring occupational injuries and deaths can stop potential workers from joining and portray a negative picture to the stakeholders. The factory, having lost its reputation, can also lose its competitiveness and market value.
5. Legal Costs: Gross violation of safety regulations in the absence of an occupational health center may result in fines and penalties. Training and safety measures that help reduce accidents can also help reduce legal costs. At the end of the day, all of this can affect the morale of the workers making them quit eventually. 

How an Occupational Health Center Mitigates the Expenses of Occupational Injuries 

Occupational health center services are what your factory needs for the complete management of worker’s health and other related issues. 

1. Open Communication: An occupational health center fosters open communication between the members of an organization, that is, among the workers, between the workers, the employer, and other staff. Encouraging communication between people can help provide insights about the work and the workplace for the occupational health center services, thereby aiding in designing programs and policies that improve the work environment. This reduces occupational hazards.
2. Commitment to Safety: An occupational health center prioritizes safety and designs measures, policies, and ergonomics to increase worker well-being. This can mean training sessions for workers on how to go about their work safely, improving the design of the nature of work to increase productivity, etc.
3. Management of Legal Issues: Without an occupational health center, safety regulations may not be followed and this leads to accidents as discussed earlier. Occupational health center services also include collaborating with different governments to ensure compliance. This helps avoid the cost of having to deal with the expense of legal issues.
4. Employee Empowerment: Occupational health center services are those that can keep your workers motivated and strengthened. Issues that arise in the factories or sometimes when accidents occur, workers face discrimination, and abuse, and often are not compensated for their loss. Occupational health center services empower the workers by supporting their cause and advocating for their rights. This is one way in which occupational health centers help reduce administrative issues.
5. Programs for Productivity: Occupational health center services provide rehabilitation programs, helping injured workers return with ease. Other programs like health screenings, workshops, and educational training that promote best practices are also designed. These programs help workers’ health, detect health issues early on, and help them understand the importance of safety and the different aspects of well-being. An informed worker will be the best resource for the employer.
6. Continuous Improvement: Occupational health center services are continuously evolving. The reason is that occupational health providers keep monitoring the work environment and the workers, and research to find out new ways in which they can help improve the existing practices. This continuous improvement can help reduce costs significantly by avoiding any issues that arise in the absence of proper measures and guidelines.

Partnerships with occupational health centers can be instrumental in providing easy healthcare access to workers, improving their well-being, and reducing the expenses that can be incurred due to accidents and other issues. In conclusion, the services of these centers can build a better tomorrow giving immense power to industries.