Canadian Safety Reporter

5 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 News | December 2017 | CSR Occupational health services: A supportive business case Some organizations may have doubts about the value of occupational health services, but the numbers don't lie BY DIANNE DYCK OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH services (OH service) must jus- tify their position within, and the value offered to, the workplace. Developing a business plan, working it, and then, measuring and reporting on the service's performance, are critical. Unfor- tunately, this approach is often overlooked and the resulting lack of performance measure- ments hampers OH services from demonstrating their value to their organizations. Conse- quently, senior management teams may sometims question the value of an OH service and its personnel. However, despite the doubts of some in senior management, a look at the numbers shows OH services and occupational health nurses (OHN) are beneficial to an organization. OH service Occupational health (OH) is "the promotion and maintenance of physical, mental and social well- being of workers by preventing departures from health, con- trolling risks and the adaptation of work to people, and people to their jobs," the World Health Organization stated in 1950. OH positions the employer to es- tablish and maintain a safe and healthy work environment that maximizes worker physical and psychological health, and aligns the work with human capabili- ties. OH services assist with the creation of a supportive work culture and positive social cli- mate, so business runs smoothly and productively. OH risks OH risk is the probability of a loss — static risk is a loss in which there is no hope of gain. A risk analysis identifies and evalu- ates real and potential risks. To quantify Canadian health risks, consider these costs: • For the economy: • Depression costs the economy more than $32.3 billion annually (CBC, 2016) • Anxiety costs $17.3 billion a year (CBC, 2016) • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) cost upwards of $22 billion annually. Musculoskeletal injuries cost an additional $15 billion (CIHR, 2014). • Direct costs of oral disease treatment are $11.6 billion (Health Canada, 2010) • Physical inactivity costs $10 billion (Katzmarzyk, 2016) • Obesity costs between $4.6 and $7.1 billion annually, and contributes to diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. By 2019, it is estimated that 21 per cent of Canadian adults will be obese (Twells, 2014) • Addiction costs are $40 billion or $1,267 per Canadian. Tobacco accounts for 43 per cent ($17 billion), while alcohol accounts for 37 per cent. • For employers: • Smokers cost $4,256 in lost productivity and absenteeism (CBC, 2013) • Work stress contributes to 40 per cent in staff turnover costs, which are priced at twice the employee's annual salary (Tangri, 2003) • Almost 25 per cent of Canadians (175,000 full- time workers) live with mental illness and are absent from the workplace (CAMH, 2016; CBC, 2016) • Physical-disorder claims cost on average $9,000; psychological disability, $18,000 per case (CAMH, 2011) • Work-related injuries (2015) cost an average of $34,269 (Dyck, 2017) • Work fatalities total an average of $4 million • Preventable injuries (2010) exceed $26.8 billion/year (PHAC, 2015) • Fatigue equals $330 million annually in lost productivity and is associated with absenteeism, presenteeism, workplace injuries, and health conditions such as high blood pressure, depression, stroke and obesity (Baglien, 2015) • Presenteeism — employees being at work but not productive, costs nine times more than absenteeism. Presenteeism is often health- related and can be managed with support from an OH service and OHNs. Hence, the overall "risk price- tag" is more than $167 billion. Through OH programming, OHNs can significantly assist organizations to prevent and mitigate these risks and stag- gering costs. OH Services have been shown to lower illness/in- jury rates and costs by between 10 and 50 per cent (WSPSO, 2011); hence, financial losses can be managed and loss avoidance realized: Table 1: OH Service Risk Reduction Risk ($) Reduction Rate Loss Avoidance ($) $167B 10% $16.7B $167B 20% $33,4B $167B 30% $50.1B $167B 50% $83.5B This approach calculates the financial and human costs that could negatively impact the workplace, by using population and occupational data, as op- posed to strictly occupationally- specific data. Similarly, Health & Safety Ontario presented The Business Case for a Healthy Workplace, 2011. Using occupationally- specific data, their report advo- cates prevention and mitigation of employee illness and injury. Examples of successful industry interventions, known costs of "doing nothing" and industry- realized financial benefits, were provided. It concluded that em- ployers can annually save: • "$700 million in stress-related absences • $2.2 billion in lost productivity due to mental illness • $6.6 billion in lost productivity due to all forms of clinical and sub-clinical mental illness • $1.1 billion in absenteeism due to work-family conflict." If, according to Fries, 20 to 30 per cent of health conditions are preventable, then OH services could offer a 20 to 30 per cent cost reduction in these known risks, regardless of the cost mod- el. That amount of loss avoid- ance would vastly outweigh the funding of any OH service. Research supports that the re- turn on investment (ROI) of an OH service is $3-$5 for every $1 spent. Going forward Risk management and loss re- duction are important given Canada's aging workforce. With 36 per cent of Canadian em- ployees over the age of 55 (Sta- tistics Canada, 2017), the risks of chronic health conditions, musculoskeletal disorders, and complications of injury are high. Likewise, 20 per cent of Cana- dian employees are foreign-born (Stats Canada, 2011). Before coming to Canada, some experi- enced significant political, social and economic hardships along with health problems. The legalization of marijuana; the planned limitations on the employer's right to seek medi- Aging workforce > pg. 8

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