Healthy Roster Blog

Why You Need Workplace Athletic Trainers

Written by Healthy Roster | Jul 19, 2021 4:08:16 PM

Your company has employees working long hours, while doing physically challenging work that requires repetition and heavy lifting.  Sounds a bit like an athlete working hard to win the game, doesn't it?

Schools and pro teams have an advantage your workers don't — licensed, certified healthcare athletic training experts on the court to diagnose, treat, and rehab athletes. They help keep the athletes playing or get them back on the field as soon as possible. 

But industrial employers are having a difficult time finding and keeping workers. They have lots of choices today and the lure of more money and greater benefits is a strong pull. Are you doing every thing you can to keep your employees? 

Why don't you have the workplace AT advantage, too?
Your employees are literally work athletes. They get the same injuries from musculoskeletal disorders (strains and pains of muscles, tendons, nerves, joints, discs, etc.) from exertion, awkward movement, and stressful repetitive motion. 

Most companies either have the supervisor in charge handling worker injuries or they provide a generic nurse hotline (with both usually recommending an ER or doctor visit.) 

Both scenarios always lead to time away from work and lost work days, expensive claims, and more recordables. 

And, the lack of attention to their well-being and a safety culture could cause workers to look elsewhere. 

Workplace injuries are expensive, but preventable 
According to studies, 69% of all work injuries are preventable. 40% are strains and tears and an additional 30% are musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). 

When a supervisor or hotline ships them off to urgent care or a primary care physician, a recordable is created and most workers are out from 8 to 14 days. Median lost time for those injuries is 11 days for MSDs and 10 days for tears and strains. That's a big drop in productivity and an increase in your recordable incident rate.

Do you know where most doctors and near-site facilities eventually send those injured workers? To orthopedic care — which could alternatively be called "Really expensive athletic trainers"... 

What are workplace athletic trainers?
Have you noticed most injured athletes don't get rushed off to the hospital during games? That's because they have help on the sidelines. And you can, too! 

Workplace athletic trainers prevent, examine, diagnosis, treat and rehabilitate emergent, acute or chronic injuries and medical conditions. And most of these injures are the strains and pains from movement.

Having an AT at your company will save you money, increase productivity, and give you happier workers. By treating employees onsite, rather than creating claims and sending them off for care, you'll keep most injuries in-house. 

According to NATA

Athletic trainers improve functional outcomes and specialize in patient education to prevent injury and re-injury. Preventative care provided by an athletic trainer has a positive return on investment for employers. ATs are able to reduce injury and shorten rehabilitation time for their patients, which translates to lower absenteeism from work and reduced health care costs.

Wouldn't having ATs onsite for every location and shift be expensive?
The short answer — yes. It would be costly to have full-time athletic trainers for every worker, on every shift, at every location. 

Healthy Roster has the answer to this problem.

Utilizing the most advanced technology, we provide 24/7 access to workplace athletic trainers for everyone, at all times, with an onsite kiosk, mobile app, and hotline to not only help triage work injuries but also prevent them. 

Give your employees the coverage and care they need while saving your company money and creating a return on investment with Virtual Injury Prevention from Healthy Roster! 

And lessen the impact of the "Great Resignation" by caring for your workers working and happier on the job.