Company News

If you'd like to do your employees a favor this winter, consider helping them avoid the emergency room.

The single most common reason for visits to the emergency room, according to national statistics, is slips-and-falls. They most typically result in injuries to the back, wrist, elbow, shoulder and knees. And they are the third largest cause of workplace injuries.

$28,000
That's now the average cost of a slip-and-fall injury, including medical treatment and lost wages, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

SFM's experience, too, is that slip-and-fall injuries are costly, on average, and occur at a higher rate of incidence than they should, given the relatively small effort an employer can make to avoid them.

With medical costs continuing to rise steeply in workers' compensation, slips-and-falls are an excellent opportunity to reduce injuries and control costs.

What SFM is doing
SFM is bringing back its penguin campaign this winter. Last year's campaign generated strong response from policyholders, who downloaded and ordered workplace posters and other resources in SFM's "Penguin series."

One of the most popular is the poster, "Do the penguin shuffle."

Policyholders can download and order penguin posters, table tents, paycheck stuffers, employer guides and other slip-and-fall resources from SFM’s Resource Catalog. Or go to SFM's Prevent Winter Slips and Falls webpage.

Already, many employers—including a lot of schools—have ordered penguin materials, and some say they are organizing special prevention programs.

Order or download SFM's penguin materials