The Cost of Jobsite Injuries & How Scissor Lifts Can Save You Money

02/28/2019

Injuries can be a devastating financial burden to construction businesses. The Liberty Mutual Insurance 2018 Workplace Safety Index reports that direct costs—medical and wage replacement expenses handled by workers’ compensation insurance—of injuries related to falls tally to $5.85 billion per year. That’s more than $100 million a week.

What’s more, indirect costs—the expenses for which employers are responsible—can be even higher than direct costs. According to OSHA, some of the indirect costs of a jobsite injury include:

Wages paid to injured employee not covered by workers’ compensation insurance
Wage costs related to time lost through work stoppage
Overtime incurred as existing workforce fills the void
Time spent by administrators, supervisors, safety personnel, & others who handle the claim
Hiring & training a replacement worker
Lost productivity related to work rescheduling, new employee learning curves, & accommodating the injured employee
Cost to clean, repair, & replace equipment damaged by the accident

The Cost of a Jobsite Injury Claim

An insurance broker by the name of Cavignac & Associates conducted research to find out the true cost of a claim. According to their analysis, a fracture can cost employers as much as $55,000 in indirect costs. But that’s just the start. A company’s workers’ compensation insurance premium will inevitably increase due to the accident, going up by an estimated $24,000 per year.

When indirect costs and three years of additional premiums are tallied up, a single injury can cost an employer a staggering $127,000. Now imagine this company has a 10% profit margin. They will need to generate an additional $1.27 million in revenue to cover the costs of one accident.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hy-Brid Lifts (@hybridlifts)

Ladders Result in Injuries

Though typically thought of as a safe solution for construction sites, ladders are among the most hazardous equipment used by construction workers. Since 2004, 43% of injuries and fatalities involved a ladder. Approximately 300 deaths and 130,000 injuries involving ladders occur annually. Contractors can easily protect workers and reduce the financial consequences of potential injuries by implementing a ladders last policy.

Scissor Lifts Are Better for Construction Safety

The right equipment, safety training, and communication can help employers reduce the risk of injury from falls. Equipment has a major impact on jobsite safety. Safer alternatives to ladders, like scissor lifts, can virtually eliminate the risk of falls on construction projects. Low-level lifts, such as the Hy-Brid Lifts PS-1430, can provide comfortable working heights of up to 20 ft while nearly eliminating the risk of a fall.

Ample space to carry tools and materials and a railing-enclosed platform make Hy-Brid Lifts the preferred solution for work-at-height job sites. And at a fraction of the cost of one workers’ compensation claim, the decision to invest in a scissor lift is a no-brainer.