Media Advisory: Sept. 29, 2010

BWC Joins Forces with National Leader in Workplace Safety

BWC/NIOSH alliance supports business growth through safer workplaces

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has entered into a formal partnership with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) that is intended to enhance safety practices for Ohio’s workforce. Today, BWC Administrator Marsha Ryan and NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard signed the NIOSH/BWC Strategic Alliance, which is intended to reduce workplace injuries and increase safety research in Ohio. The partnership is expected to build on Ohio’s research capabilities leading to better safety interventions and preventing workplace injuries.

“Workplace injuries often result in a financial strain for businesses,” said Administrator Ryan. “It is a known fact that prevention is the key to maintaining a safe and healthy workforce. As a public workers’ compensation system, BWC has at our fingertips unparalleled, comprehensive data that offers a unique opportunity for enhancing our prevention efforts. By partnering with NIOSH, we can share this valuable data to gain the knowledge that will help us understand why injuries occur, and how we can help Ohio businesses prevent accidents in the future, protecting their workforce and their bottom line.”

NIOSH is a federal agency established by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and is the nation’s leading source for work-related illness and injury research. The agency uses injury data from each state to assist in prioritizing action for the most pressing occupational and health safety issues. Ohio’s data will also complement NIOSH’s existing body of research that guides recommendations for improving workplace safety and mitigating workplace health hazards across the country.

“We in NIOSH are excited about this new partnership with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “Workers’ compensation data represent a potentially vast but largely untapped resource for better understanding the causes and impacts of work-related injuries and illnesses. We look forward to working with Administrator Ryan and her staff to advance our common goal of safer and healthier workplaces.”

While NIOSH works with all states in a variety of capacities, Ohio’s formal alliance with NIOSH is unique as a foundation for many potential studies. The first Ohio/NIOSH collaboration is expected to begin in October and will examine the effectiveness of occupational safety and health programs in the wholesale and retail trade sector. The goal of this four-year project is to reduce injuries and illnesses, particularly musculoskeletal disorders and traumatic slip/trip/fall injuries, in part by assessing the effectiveness and cost-benefit of the various elements of occupational safety and health programs.

A photo of today’s ceremony is available here.

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