3)
It would be financially beneficial for an employer to review needs assessment data in order to ensure that they are not wasting their time on issues that do not affect their workforce. The focus should be placed on illnesses and injuries that are causing financial impacts. The needs assessment data could also be used in prevention efforts. If there are frequently reported injuries regarding a specific task, it may be in the best interest of the company to put a process in place to prevent this injury, which will increase the company’s return on investment. (Management of Occupational Health and Safety, 2011, 332) The design of the program will also depend on the type of company, such as a company with sedentary work may not put as much focus on prevention or early intervention because the likelihood of physical injury would be low compared to a job with high physical demands.
Dependant upon the size of the budget the company is willing to put into disability management will also determine which of the best practices the company will choose to incorporate into their program. The design of the program will also be affected by the employer’s motivation to create a safe work environment for its employees and how the company as a whole values safety in the workplace. Not all employers only care about the costs as seen in the example of Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which holds workplace safety as a fundamental value. OPG works towards a goal of zero