In today’s ultra-competitive marketplace, there is no down time and many businesses must operate at peak levels to keep up with market demand, regulatory protocols and earning forecasts. If done effectively, productivity and revenue growth will thrive. Fall short and, your bottom line might suffer as efforts struggle to meet expectations. These constant pressures can, at times, put undue stress on employees and the workforce, and could undermine worker safety, leading to a spike in work-related injuries and weakened productivity.
For organizations wanting to be proactive in averting these risks, full-support providers like ATI’s Worksite Solutions (AWS) will help to find permanent safety solutions through carefully developed and deployed programs. These programs focus on strengthening safety standards and identifying/mitigating potential workplace injury risks. As a result, the more than 150 organizations who have already invested in AWS are enjoying major regressions in worker’s compensations costs and lost/modified work days.
The power source to each AWS program’s effectiveness is tethered on the team’s Power of E3 approach, which embodies a tactical style of execution. We met up with AWS senior vice president, Sheila Denman for a deeper look into the many incredible values offered through AWS and how their program may benefit you.
Get to know senior vice president of ATI AWS Sheila Denman, the driving force behind AWS’ success
What are the primary areas of focus within an AWS program?
Ultimately, our goal is to disrupt the paradigm of traditional occupational medicine. With this, we create safer work environments to help drive down the cost of insurance associated with worker injuries. In a traditional setting, 15-75% of injuries are musculoskeletal treated. These injuries are best treated if caught early enough, so by incentivizing professionals early in the process to catch minor discomfort and treat aches and pains, the need to seek medical care in a long-term capacity is greatly reduced.
Explain the Power of E3 initiative and how this plays into the AWS mission?
The Power of E3 aligns with Engaging employees before injury, Empowering ownership of causation and responsibility for corrective actions, and helping to Eliminate the need for reactive medicine. This plays into our mission of not only assessing injuries, but also actively evaluating risk factors that cause these injuries and introducing methods of assessment and reduction based on these findings.
What types of environments/industries does AWS attend to?
Industries that currently benefit from our services include ones such as aerospace all the way to pharma. We also serve health & beauty, a variety of manufacturing sectors, consumer goods, utilities, medical goods, office and general administration, beverage distribution and general distribution.
How can AWS help alleviate the financial burdens of injuries at the workplace?
With much credit given to our extremely robust in-house data monitoring system, we are able to precisely track all encounters and leading indicators that result in a clear reduction of lagging metrics (recordables and claims). Thanks to this data, we are able to identify problematic patterns, areas or irregularities in a client’s process and develop corrective strategies that promote early intervention and manage first aid encounters successfully. As a result, clients begin to notice a decline in lagging indicators and recordable claims within months from introducing our program.
What is a CEIS and how are these specialists assigned their roles?
CEIS stands for Certified Early Intervention Specialist. A CEIS is pivotal when understanding and assessing risk factors that impact workplace injuries. Our specialists observe a multitude of factors and settings, then interface with workers. It is through these efforts that each CEIS helps to mitigate injury risks and improve overall wellness of the workforce. Before getting to this point, the process of assigning a CEIS and appropriating a program starts at the discovery phase with the client to understand what ailments they are up against and what kind of medical surveillance is in place. Through this process, we discover the BEST level of care needed and understand where our clients are and where they need to go, we are then able to assign a specialist best suited for these needs.
After adapting an Onsite Early Intervention Program, how soon will a client begin to recognize observable outcomes?
Typically, results can be seen as soon as within the first 30 days. As mentioned, results are contingent on a program’s effective rollout and deployment, which includes a thorough 100-step process. The key to any program’s success falls heavily on communication as well as the onboarding process. Both set the stage for achieving established objectives. Through this process, we want everyone to be aware and clear on purpose to drive results faster. KPI’s that are established from the beginning are put in place to align with company goals for safety, operations and cultural shift toward employee ownership.
Does AWS also support an injured worker’s transition back to the workforce?
Aiding in a worker’s transition back to the workforce is a crucial phase in our program. We put a great effort into ensuring a worker is ready to manage the day-to-day demands in the most effective manner. It’s also important for us to reshape the culture and perceptions around injuries to get in front of ailments before they adversely impact the workplace and workforce.
Since inception, how many companies/clients has AWS partnered with?
Since our inception, we’ve supported more than 150 organizations and have attended to approximately 95,000 employees.
Is AWS able to support bilingual environments?
Yes! After meeting with a client and understanding their needs, should we determine a bilingual CEIS is required for on-site engagement, then we’ll assign the right candidate.