How obesity and workers comp is crippling companies

If you haven’t had the opportunity to read ‘How Obesity Increases the Risk of Disabling Workplace Injuries’ by Harry Shuford and Tanya Restrepro of NCCI Holdings, Inc.  I suggest you grab some pain killers and give it a once-over.  It sheds a different light on the dilemma we are facing when it comes to our obesity epidemic.  Most importantly it offers up the actual cost in dollars of an obese employee compared to a healthy one.  I would imagine that the ears of any CEO or CFO would perk up if they heard that the cost of an obese employee, from a Worker’s Comp perspective, can be 50 to 60 times greater over a 5 year period than an identical injury to a healthy employee.  50 to 60 times more!

And although it sounds incredibly inflated, all you have to do is imagine a serious accident on the shop floor of a small manufacturing company to Joe the Jock compared to Wally the Weekend Warrior.  One is healthy the other obese.  They both break a leg.  Joe hobbles in on crutches and does what has to be productive until he’s recovered.  He works out his upper body and figures out how to get his heart rate up in the gym.  Wally, on the other hand is in some serious rehab.  After a very complicated surgery to repair the broken bone – the same broken bone that was relatively easy to set for Jock because there wasn’t such a concern over his weight or BP, or medications.  Not so for Wally!

Then there’s the rehab.  Jock heals himself.  Wally gets progressively worse before he gets better.  Whether its aches and pains from trying to get around on crutches to medications and complications because of his physiology.  And of course there’s no chance Wally is going to be productive in his condition.  A condition that could last months and months.  Long enough so the company has to replace him to get his work done.  It’s an ongoing and very expensive nightmare.  That is avoidable.

Wellness programs are trendy and cool.  And for the most part completely ineffective.  “Heresy”, I hear in the background.   Before you condemn me let me quote Thomas Paine – “a long habit of not thinking something wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”  So, introducing a wellness program that pays for the gym membership of Joe the Jock and the other fit and healthy employees is not a success.  It’s a failure.  It’s Wally the Weekend Warrior and all of his cohorts who have nothing to do with the wellness program whatsoever who should be the judge and jury of a wellness program.  Their verdict?  Thanks, but no thanks.

Well of course they’re going to say that.  Who in their right mind would opt to eat healthy foods and exercise when it’s so much easier to lounge around and watch television and eat junk?  “So,” some energetic and healthy individuals (consultants or employees) say “let’s incentivize people to exercise and eat healthy.  And make it fun and exciting.  How about we let the employees get involved with the planning and implementation.  Won’t that build teamwork and camaraderie?” 

Hmmmm…..sounds like a great plan.  Coming from a person who, for want of a better description, has seen the light!  Joe the Jock that is.  But you have to get into the mindset of Wally the Weekend Warrior to appreciate how futile that approach is going to be.  He/she/they don’t like exercise.  They don’t want to eat healthy.  Yes, they would like to be fit and healthy.  But it’s too much effort.  So asking them to participate in the wellness program and help design it would be akin to saying “okay Wally, we’ve decided to run a third shift.  Nights.  And you’re in charge.  Now I know you hate coming in at 10.  And we’re aware of the fact that you’re going to spend most of the shift figuring out how to pass the time and get back at us for making you work such horrible hours and be away from your warm bed and family.  But, we thought that if you’d help in the design and implementation of this torture you’d be a lot happier about it.”

“Pessimist” I hear being screamed in the background.  To which I reply, pragmatist.  It’s no secret that 70% of people claim that they don’t like their job – there are lots of polls to validate that observation.  Work, to a huge section of the population, is something they do because they have to make money to pay bills and lead the life they want to lead.  And based on the obesity rates it’s not much of a challenge figuring out what people want to do with their free time. 

So, how long would a company be in business if the policies and procedures were created by those required to produce a product or commodity?  What would happen if we removed time clocks or quotas or benchmarks or anything that forces employees to do what’s got to be done so a profit can be generated?  
That’s exactly the same way we need to look at our wellness programs.  Paying for a gym membership for Joe the Jock is nothing more than giving him a bonus for being fit – he would be in the gym irrelevant of the program.  Paying for a gym membership for Wally the Weekend Warrior is an absolute waste of money!  He’ll figure out a way to circumvent the system and make it appear as if he’s going in. 

He’ll get as creative as necessary to make sure he can continue to live the lifestyle he does.  In fact he might be able to get a couple of cash bonuses here and there if he spends some time on the computer looking at the company wellness site!  What a concept.  What a shame.

At some stage employers are going to realize that we can no longer wish and hope that this obesity epidemic is going to go away.  Or the government will help.  Or it isn’t going to affect their company.  It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.  But, as I say, it’s avoidable.  Is it easily implemented?  Heck no.  In fact it may be as challenging to an employer to create a healthy workforce as it is to create a viable product or service.  Mainly because it’s not their field of expertise.  Companies build things, produce things or provide a service.  They don’t get people fit and healthy.  For now they hope and pray that overweight or obese people will see the errors of their ways and do something to reverse the trend.  Which is akin to the lunatics in charge of the asylum.

If you think I’m completely off base, how about we do a simple test to validate or repudiate my observations.  The CDC just came out with data that says from 2008 to 2010 the number of people with diabetes went from 23.6 million to 26 million – a 10% increase.  Pre-diabetics went from 57 million to 79 million.  How have you, your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors fared in the last 2 years?  Are you in better shape?  Are they in better shape?  How many of us are doing what we have to do to lead a fit and healthy life? 

About The Author

Mel O’Keefe is the CEO (Chief Exercise Officer) of Virtual Fitness Coach, an online wellness company.  Mel has an insight into the obesity epidemic because he’s been there.  He doesn’t try to hide the reasons for his obesity either.  “I ate too much, I drank too much and I didn’t exercise.”  At the age of 38 he had an epiphany, changed his ways and is now an accomplished Ironman triathlete and certified personal trainer/coach

Virtual Fitness Coach has taken the experience of working with a professional coach and nutritionist and have ‘virtualized’ it.  Employees are guided exercise by exercise, meal by meal, day by day until they reach their health and fitness goals.  Virtual Fitness Coach assists in design and implementation of wellness programs for companies of all sizes.  Mel can be contacted at mel@virtualfitnesscoach.com