Why You Need an Outside Consultant for Your Injury Prevention Program

I am a medical provider and I have learned that family and close friends rarely head my advice. But, strangers seem to linger on my every word. That is why companies should hire an outside consultant to guide their employee injury prevention and ergonomic programs.

Employees not only will listen to an “expert,” but they will feel more comfortable in speaking up about problems they have observed in their job.  No-one knows the problem areas in a job better than the person performing that task daily. Promoting employee engagement is one of the most important aspect of successful injury prevention.

Employees must be part of the process in developing and implementing an injury prevention program. They should have personal responsibility for following through with training for an injury prevention program to succeed. If they feel empowered to speak up without fear, they will help your organization improve its processes.

Bringing in a consultant from outside the organization allows for “fresh eyes” to see what others that work there may have become blind to such as: poor postures, fall hazards, and poor ergonomic set-ups is common. I have personally walked into large organizations with all the bells and whistles of ergonomic tools and in 5 minutes have seen multiple employees with poor postures or not utilizing their ergonomic tools properly.  The employees have developed poor habits and those around them have become blinded to these habits.

If your organization has in internally managed injury prevention program, consider hiring a consultant to work together with your safety, wellness and human resources personnel to guide your program in the proper direction. Hiring an outside consultant can bring into focus the areas that have blurred into everyday blindness for management.