Focus on output contributes to workplace injuries

When safety takes a backseat to productivity, South Carolina workers often end up paying the price for their employers’ profits. Data shows that manufacturing fatalities are trending up after falling since 2008. U.S. Department of Labor figures have revealed that approximately 4 percent of manufacturing workers are either injured on the job or contract an occupational disease each year.

A failure to focus on safety is a primary cause of workplace accidents. On one hand, workers suffer when productivity is emphasized above all else, essentially subsidizing employer profits with pain and suffering. Profits also suffer from the costs of poor attention to safety.

There are several ways to reduce the risk of workplace injuries, but one of these is crucial to make the others possible. Company leadership must prioritize workplace safety in words and actions. If executives push productivity above safety, such as with evaluations focusing on output, supervisors are unlikely to take the time to spot potential fall hazards and address them. The same goes for workers. A supervisor under the gun to increase output leads to workers’ failure to know about or take basic precautions against on-the-job injury risks.

While the corporate climate may certainly be a contributing factor in a workplace accident, it is not necessary to prove such in a workers’ compensation claim. Benefits can be available in most cases even if the victim’s negligence was the cause of the accident that led to the injury. An attorney can explain the process that is involved in filing the required claim documentation.