Occupational Health and Safety Benefits

Reduction of Injuries – The root causes of workplace injuries can be alcohol or substance abuse issues or behavioral health issues, such as stress. These issues can create an unstable employee who contributes to an unsafe working environment. Employers can implement mandatory referrals for employees with suspected issues to support the intervention process. EAPs can address the pre-injury issues through counseling and referrals, as well as post-injury by helping the worker get through his problems. By utilizing the EAP, the worker can resolve issues that may put him in danger of injury; if injured, it can expedite recovery for a quicker return to work.

Quicker Return to Work – Utilizing an EAP can lead to a quicker return to work for an injured employee. EAP professionals help the employee return to work after a leave of absence by offering support, leading to reduction of stress and depression related to the injury. This leads to a direct decrease in workers’ compensation costs for the employer. Additionally, with the employee returning to work faster, the company reaps the benefit of the employee’s productivity. EAPs often integrate with workers’ comp, medical, wellness and behavioral health to create a continuum of care for the employee to improve his condition for a speedier recovery.

Critical Incident Management – Employers may contract for critical incident management, an add-on service to EAP programs. When a significant distressing event or circumstance occurs, trained EAP counselors are dispatched to the job site to offer support and grief counseling to employees. The goal is to reduce absenteeism caused by employees feeling depressed, overwhelmed or unsafe at work due the event or circumstance. These employees may file workers’ compensation if the event occurred or is related to the workplace. Ultimately, you may reduce costs, including workers’ compensation, medical costs and costs associated with unplanned leave of absences, by using critical incident management services.