Preventive measures; occupational-health centers help companies avoid costly cures.

• Author: Martel, Judy

There's little need for a pound of cure at Digital Audio Disc Corp. in Terre Haute, thanks to the ounce of prevention the company has undertaken.

The company's on-site occupational-health facility, staffed 16 hours a day by two nurses, strives to keep employees healthy and on the job through preventive measures and early treatment of job-related injuries, says occupational-health nurse Judy Rittman. "Our lost-time incident rates are very low," she says.

The health facility at the manufacturer of compact discs and related optical media has been open for most of the company's 10 years. The nurses see as many as 50 workers a day. Among the matters they deal with are worker's compensation cases, medical leave evaluations, health screenings and tests, wellness programs and education. Regular visits are made by a physician, an optician and a psychologist. "Our employer works well at getting people back to work," Rittman says.

And that makes good business sense. Time is money for companies, and when an employee is injured on the job, thousands of dollars may be spent on worker's compensation and temporary wages to replace the employee. Those costs have forced companies to reconsider how to keep employees healthy on the job, and if injured, how to get them back to work quickly.

"Worker's comp costs are soaring, and if we don't contain them, Uncle Sam will help," says Georgia Van Wormer, regional director of occupational health for Lakeshore Health System in East Chicago.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations and the Americans With Disabilities Act have helped companies not only to look at the safety of their employees on the job, but also to be sure an employee can do a job before he or she is hired.

Occupational-health centers have provided the answer for many companies. Whether on-site or off, these health-care providers have goals of getting an injured worker back on the job as soon as possible, and educating companies and employees in methods of preventing injury or illness.

Barry Gemmer, administrator of Fort Wayne Occupational Health Center Inc., says emergency-room costs for treating an injured employee are generally higher by 35 to 40 percent than what an occupational-health center would charge.

But administrators of occupational-health centers believe their role goes well beyond helping a company cut costs. By being on the front lines in the workplace, physicians can check an employee's work station to ensure that it...