At What Point Does Safety Become Overly Intrusive?
By Phil La Duke on his blog http://philladuke.wordpress.com/. Phil says:
Companies are beginning to recognize that the lifestyles of workers while off-the-clock can have profound influence on the company’s bottom line. More and more safety professionals are trying to push employees to take safety home, and from smoking cessation programs to increased co-pays for workers who have risk factors employers are taking a much more active interest in employees’ home lives. In this week’s post I explore the line between employees’ freedom and employers’ rights to control costs. I hope you will give it a read and let me know what you think.
With the rising costs associated with healthcare, an aging workforce more likely to require treatment for chronic illness, and the simple fact that people in good physical condition tend to injured less severely than those who are out of shape organizations are increasingly able to argue that what you do on your own time is indeed their business; but is it?
Off-the-job injuries often spill over onto the job and create sticky situations. A worker how twists his ankle in a pickup game may claim the injury happened at work, or a worker who, eager to get home to weekend fun, may twist his ankle at work and not recognize the severity of the injury UNTIL the pick-up game. Ergonomic injuries can be exacerbated by daily home activities, and even if the injury doesn’t ever cross over into the workplace, a worker crippled doing yard work is still a valuable resource lost.