New Software Program Will Measure Benefits, Costs of OH&S Compliance Measures
In Toronto, The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) is preparing to release The Health & Safety Smart Planner, a software program designed to assist workplaces in understanding the full costs and benefits of occupational health and safety programs and interventions.
The software program, which will be available for download this spring from www.iwh.on.ca/smart-planner, includes a complete listing of all Occupational Health and Safety Act costs and benefits, and performs key economic calculations from inputted data. The software features a database that will store the costs of ongoing workplace incidents, as well as the economic analyses of interventions.
The software looks at “resource implications” to determine costs and consequences of a situation, in order to make a reasonable economic evaluation. For example, it will look at factors such as the purchase of new equipment and the number of hours involved in training workers, and consider those in relation to the benefit of such activity, such as reduced absenteeism rates and productivity gains, to determine how much a company actually loses or saves.
For example, suppose a company experiences a significant number of back injuries. The database can be used to record ongoing back injuries in the software’s ‘incident cost calculator,’ which considers the type of incident, time taken off work, compensation costs and lost productivity expenses, among other factors. When the company puts into place new programs to reduce back injuries, the software can compare injury rates before and after the program’s implementation, as well as take into account such costs as staff time to analyze workstations, hold training sessions and staff meetings or alter equipment, and show the positive consequences as they appear, in terms of productivity and fewer injuries.
After six months of monitoring, a summary sheet shows a full cost-benefit analysis of the program, including the overall costs in terms of staff time and adjustments, compared with the cost savings for fewer days off work due to back injuries, and the increase in productivity.
Once the software is released, newer, improved versions are expected shortly after, which will include video instruction inserts (in Ontario) and plans to map database information on a graph in order to show performance over a period of time.
Tags: Institute for Work & Health, The Health & Safety Smart Planner, workplace safety assessment
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