What is a “Lost Time Accident” and How Do LTA’s Affect YOUR Caregiving Business?
Lost time accidents (LTAs) happen when someone gets hurt on the job, causing a drop in productivity. Most industries, like manufacturing, track LTAs to understand how safety occurrences impact their organization. Caregiving organizations, though, have a unique twist— with LTAs, both the caregiver and the client can get hurt, which can lead to significant operational, financial, and even legal challenges.
If a caregiver is injured working with a client, that caregiver’s individual needs must be addressed… but they must also be replaced as quickly as possible to ensure ongoing care for the client. Depending on your caregiver pool, this might be tricky. If you don’t have enough staff or if the available caregivers don’t have the right skills, finding a quick replacement can be tough. When that happens, office staff, managers, or even the business owner might need to fill in. Not only is this stressful, but it takes key people away from their normal roles like growing the business, handling quality control, or working on marketing. Beyond just having an injured employee, your office staff is now pulled into direct care, costing you more money.
If you can't find a replacement fast enough, there's a second problem: you might lose the client. In some cases, you might need to refer them to a competitor or an outside agency, and there goes that revenue—possibly for good.
And that's just if the caregiver is injured. But what if the client gets hurt? Depending on the severity, they might need to go to the hospital, or they could end up in rehab. Some might not be able to return to their previous living situation, or in worst-case scenarios, they could even die. Even if the situation is not so extreme, families may start questioning the level of care their loved one is receiving. They might wonder if it's time to move their loved one to a higher level of care, or maybe switch to a different caregiving company. Even if they don’t say anything, those thoughts might still be on their mind, and that alone could cause you to lose the client eventually.
And we haven’t even touched on how all this affects your insurance costs.
LTAs can be a huge headache for caregiving organizations. They affect the lives of caregiver and client, disrupt processes, slow down workflow, hurt morale, and affect growth. But the good news is, you CAN do something about it. You can’t prevent every accident, but lost time accidents can be reduced. Many industries have proven that through solid quality control and safety systems. Caregiving is no different.
The key? A culture of safety that includes comprehensive, ongoing, high-quality training for your caregivers. At Higher Standards Caregiver Training, we believe that client and caregiver safety are inseparable, and that each is vital for the success of your care organization. Learn more about our training programs or schedule 15 minutes to discover the right program for you.
