In This Issue:
- A Safer Workplace Benefits Everyone
- Don’t Get Sick: What You Need to Know for the Upcoming Flu Season
- Extra Help at the Office: How Ergonomics and Stretching Reduce Injury Risks
- State Fund’s Back Connection®: A Fresh Approach to Back-Injury Prevention
- The 4 Most Common Workplace Injuries
- Put It in Writing: Your IIPP Makes a Plan for Safety
- State Fund Employer Education Series
- A List to Avoid: Cal/OSHA’s Top Safety Violations
- Extra, Extra! There’s Much More Online
- How to Get More Information

A Safer Workplace Benefits Everyone

Every day more than 16,000 employees experience an injury or illness in U.S. workplaces. The cost of these incidents extends from medical treatment and lost work time to the impact on business productivity and individual quality of life. But employers like you can make a difference. A dedicated focus on workplace safety is a proven way to reduce the number and severity of on-the-job injuries and illnesses. No matter what kind of work you do or how big or small you are, a workplace safety and health program makes good business sense. When you and your employees understand and embrace your roles in promoting everyday safety, you will reap numerous valuable results, including:

• Save costs. Injury prevention results is lower claims costs, which has a positive effect on the rates and premium you pay for your workers’ compensation insurance. These saved dollars can be directed toward other business initiatives and your bottom line.
• Enhance productivity. Safety goes hand in hand with efficiency. Preventing injuries enables your business to avoid disruptions in operations and employee continuity.
• Improve morale and loyalty. Safe workplaces support employee health and wellness. Your attention to your employees’ safety shows you care about them and can allow them to have a better experience at work (and in their time away from work too).

State Fund: The Safety Experts

State Fund is widely recognized for our expertise in occupational safety and health. Our safety services, products, and programs are a model for the industry. Whether you are just starting out or need to breathe new life into your existing safety program, we want to help.

In this issue of COMPonents, you will find information and guidance that can help you integrate an effective safety program into your daily business operations. Safety is important to all of us, so we encourage you to think of State Fund as an accessible resource. You can read more about State Fund’s Safety & Health Services, or contact your State Fund loss control consultant or regional office.

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Don’t Get Sick: What You Need to Know for the Upcoming Flu Season

With fall and winter ahead, we’ll all be hearing more about “flu season.” It’s important to understand the role that workplaces can play in containing the spread of harmful germs and contaminants. To protect people and businesses in California, State Fund recommends that you educate your employees about flu facts, symptoms, and preventive measures. Additionally, it’s a good idea to learn more about pandemic flu in case an outbreak significantly affects your workforce or operations.

Preventing Seasonal Flu

The basic symptoms of seasonal flu—fever, cough, runny nose, and muscle pain—can disrupt your health and productivity (and those of your employees). You can make a difference by following a few defensive guidelines and regularly sharing these reminders with your staff:

• Get an annual flu shot.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Wash your hands frequently during the day and especially after you cough or sneeze. Use soap and warm running water for 20 seconds every time.
• Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or disinfecting wipes to help kill germs at home and at work.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
• If you get sick, stay home from work and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Preparing for Pandemic Flu

Pandemic flu initially looks and feels a lot like seasonal flu, but it is caused by a completely new virus. Because no one has had the virus before, we lack the natural defenses to fight it off. In addition to taking the general preventive precautions above, you can prepare for pandemic flu by making an emergency plan for your business. Your plan should include flu preventive practices and anticipate the impact of a pandemic outbreak on your operations.

We have much more flu-preparedness information online, including detailed articles about H1N1 Influenza and Preparing for a Pandemic Flu.

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Extra Help at the Office: How Ergonomics and Stretching Reduce Injury Risks

Did you know that over 35 percent of workers’ compensation injuries for office workers are caused by overexertion, repetitive motion, and cumulative trauma? We’re all spending more time working at the computer and other electronic devices. All those mouse clicks, keystrokes, and thumb presses can really add up.

One way you can help reduce the risk of injury is by ensuring that your employees have a good ergonomic fit with their computer workstations. We can help you with that. Whether you need information on selecting an office chair, positioning a monitor, learning keyboard shortcuts, or finding out how to deal with the latest “new” injury—such as BlackBerry^® thumb or cell-phone elbow—we have more than 20 office-specific ErgoMatters^® articles available online.

It’s also important for you and your employees to remember to take small periodic breaks from sitting at the computer. We’ve created a special pamphlet illustrating some stretches that will help counteract the effects of overusing computers and other electronic devices. The pamphlet is “Stretches for Office Workers” (SCIF 17126).

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State Fund’s Back Connection^®: A Fresh Approach to Back-Injury Prevention

Studies of California workers’ compensation claims show that the back is the most frequently injured body part. In 2007, back injuries accounted for more than one in five non-fatal injuries and cost an average of $45,698 per claim. This combination of frequency and expense drove the ergonomics experts at State Fund to create an all-new approach to reducing the risk of back injuries. The result—State Fund’s Back Connection^®—is an innovative back-injury prevention process that’s packaged in an interactive DVD.

State Fund’s Back Connection^® provides the resources you need to develop a back-injury-prevention program that fits your business and the way your employees work. One of the unique features of State Fund’s Back Connection^® is an interactive “card sort” (available in English and Spanish) that your employees use to identify risk factors that can lead to or cause a back injury. Who better to identify these risk factors than the employees who do their jobs day in and day out? After the card-sort process gives you a clear sense of what these risk factors are, you may use the DVD’s tools to design and implement cost-effective solutions that can help you control or eliminate contributing causes of work-related back injuries.

With State Fund’s Back Connection^®, you have the power to help prevent back injuries and protect your employees’ health and productivity. The DVD includes bilingual training videos and forms as well as tips for selecting new equipment. And best of all, there is no charge for State Fund policyholders, and the DVD is yours to keep. To find out more or order your own copy, contact your State Fund loss control consultant or go to the Back Connection^® page.

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The 4 Most Common Workplace Injuries

1. Physical overload: Injuries from poor material handling such as improper lifting techniques, straining, overreaching, bending, or twisting. Commonly affect the back, shoulders, and arms.
2. Falls: Injuries caused by unsafe actions or unsafe conditions. Examples: Slipping on the floor or ground and falling from ladders or roofs.
3. Impact incidents: When an employee is struck by or strikes against an object, the impact often results in an injury. Impact incidents are also a leading cause of workplace deaths.
4. Machine incidents: Injuries to an employee caught by a moving machine as it rotates, slides, or presses. Failure to follow proper machine lockout/blockout procedures increases the injury risk.

If you know how your employees could get hurt on the job, you can do a better job of teaching them how to recognize, prevent, and protect against potential workplace injuries. It’s all the more reason to make safety a priority.

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Put It in Writing: Your IIPP Makes a Plan for Safety

An effective workplace safety program needs a strong foundation. That’s why California requires employers to implement and maintain an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP). An IIPP is a written plan that spells out how your business protects your employees from workplace hazards. It’s not just a proactive way to reduce on-the-job injuries; it’s also the law.

The precise requirements for your IIPP depend on the size or specific operations of your business—construction employers, for example, must include a plan for ongoing safety meetings in their IIPP. At minimum, your IIPP should explain detailed information and practices for your safety program, including:

• Who is responsible for safety management.
• Your system for ensuring employee compliance with safe work practices.
• Procedures for inspections, accident investigation, and correction of hazardous conditions.
• Safety training and communication.
• Recordkeeping for inspections and training.

A Customized IIPP at No Additional Cost

State Fund can help you create and maintain an IIPP that improves employee safety and meets Cal/OSHA standards. Our IIPP Builder is an interactive online tool that enables you to design your own platform for safety. IIPP Builder not only evaluates the effectiveness of your current IIPP but also provides step-by-step guidance and templates for creating a new one. As a State Fund policyholder, you can access IIPP Builder for free by logging in to State Fund Online.

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State Fund Employer Education Series

State Fund offers a wide range of free employer education seminars to support our customers. Many of these seminars are targeted toward helping businesses like yours improve their safety practices. A typical safety seminar features State Fund safety and health specialists as well as experts from outside occupational safety and health organizations, such as Cal/OSHA Consultation Service, California Highway Patrol, and Department of Health Services.

Some examples of seminar themes we have presented this year: Writing a hazard communication program, preventing heat illness, and preparing for a surprise Cal/OSHA inspection. When you attend one of our seminars, you will learn “best practice” tips that can enable you to make your workplace safer and save costs. You’ll also have the opportunity to get one-on-one answers to your questions.

To find out more about our safety seminars, go the Seminars page. You can browse our list of upcoming seminars by topic, location, and date and also register for free online. Employers routinely tell us that these free seminars are well worth their time. We hope to see you at a seminar soon.

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A List to Avoid: Cal/OSHA’s Top Safety Violations

As part of its mission to promote workplace safety, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) conducts inspections around the state. Each year, Cal/OSHA releases a list of the most frequent violations of safety standards. Here are the hazards that show up on the citations list year after year:

• Injury and Illness Prevention Program
• Hazard communication program
• Respiratory protection
• Portable fire extinguishers
• Reporting workplace fatality or serious injury
• Fall protection, scaffolding, and ladders
• Machine guarding (general/lockout-blockout)
• Electrical (general/wiring/guarding opening in electrical boxes)
• Powered industrial trucks (forklifts)
• Personal protective equipment
• Field sanitation and heat illness

Whenever your workplace is in violation of a Cal/OSHA safety regulation, you are putting your employees at risk of injury and your business at risk of a fine. Look around your operation and be aware of safety hazards that would prompt a violation. You want to make sure you don’t become part of next year’s list.

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Extra, Extra! There’s Much More Online

This newsletter couldn’t possibly contain everything we have to say about workplace safety. Fortunately, as a State Fund policyholder you can access many more safety resources online. Visit Safety & Health Services for a comprehensive selection of products and services that will help keep your employees safer, including:

• Safety meeting topics: Use these guides for on-the-job safety training meetings to educate employees on potential hazards and prevent injuries and illnesses. The meeting topics cover a variety of industries, with many especially geared to the construction industry, which is required to hold regular “tailgate” meetings as part of an Injury and Illness Prevention Program. We have more than 225 safety topics in English and Spanish.
• Loss control bulletins: Get in-depth information on specific industrial conditions as well as public-health concerns.
• ErgoMatters^®: Read concise articles written by State Fund’s ergonomics experts on workplace ergonomics issues. We have more than 60 articles to serve employers in all industries.
• Hazard checklists: Document your inspections and identify hazards. Choose from more than 50 checklists for many industrial and office applications.
• Safety newsletters: View or print our quarterly industry-specific safety newsletters.
• Safety catalogs: Browse and order safety materials for your workplace.
• Young worker safety resources: Learn tips for handling the special safety risks involved in employing young workers.

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How to Get More Information

Broker: If you are represented by a broker for your State Fund policy, your broker may assist you with safety questions too.

Customer Service Center: For general safety questions, or to inquire about safety products and services, call (888) 222-3211.

Web site: Go to Safety & Health Services for complete information on State Fund safety resources (see previous article on what you can find online).

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