What price do you put on workers’ safety and well-being? According to Gallup, employee absenteeism — mostly resulting from occupational injuries and illnesses — costs U.S. companies $153 billion per year. Employers managing high-risk operations, such as industrial manufacturing and maintenance, are especially vulnerable to these losses. What can employers do to reduce occupational hazards, and keep workers safe?

Reconsider Shift Work

WebMD reports that shift work, loosely defined as late-night or rotating shifts, has a number of devastating short-term health effects, including heightened risks of accidents and injury, malaise, stomach problems, insomnia, and a lower quality of life. Shift work, however, can lead to much more serious — and long-term — health conditions as well. Diabetes,

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