In California and across the US, larger companies that are in a better position to enact strong workplace safety policies do not always do so. This is because it is usually more profitable for larger companies to not have a strong workplace safety policy in place.
A recent study by Oregon State University found that the cost for businesses to enact safe workplace policies was actually higher than if these companies choose to not put such policies in place. In some instances, companies that had worker injury claims were 50% more likely to survive than organizations without such claims. The findings suggest that companies would rather pay nominal fines when they violate workplace safety regulations versus having strong workplace safety policies in place.
The study from Oregon State University, which is related to workers’ compensation issues, studied more than 100,000 Oregon-based organizations for 25 years. The definition of “survival” in the study was based on ongoing business operations even if the business’s ownership had changed during the study period. The study reviewed companies’ history of disabling claims, including injuries that forced workers off the job for at least three days or caused expectation of permanent disability.
Overall, the results of the study indicate that providing a safe workplace is generally a hindrance to the survival of an organization. Organizations with worker injury claims survived up to 56% longer than those without these claims. This effect was most defined for older and larger companies.
The above study indicates that individuals are more likely to be injured on the job due to lack of safety policies. When a worker has been injured, it’s important to have a workers’ compensation lawyer to defend that person’s rights and seek just compensation for any injuries that were sustained.
