Work Safe Consulting was born out of a desire to prevent on-the-job injuries. Founded by Danni Arroyo in 2018, the company provides professional consulting and on-site clinic services to companies in Nebraska and Iowa seeking assistance for injury prevention, ergonomics education, and much more.
The American Dream
Arroyo came from an immigrant family, with her dad coming to the United States from Costa Rica at the age of 19. He worked various construction jobs and learned English along the way. Eventually, he started his own roofing company, working diligently to provide a good life for his family.
“Watching my dad work so hard during my childhood in order to provide the American dream for my sisters and myself set me up to have two things in life: an unrelenting work ethic and a passion for keeping safe those people who were working hard to provide their own American dream for their own families,” she said.
Arroyo was the first member of her family to attend college and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a doctorate from Creighton University.
“I have always been very passionate about impacting my community, and Work Safe Consulting is my way of providing my gifts to my community,” she said.
Arroyo had experience developing industrial and office ergonomic programs as an employee at companies in the past and decided to venture out and work towards her dream of starting her own business. Today, her three-year-old company provides a variety of services for clients looking to prevent workplace injuries through education and proactive training that combine prevention services and ergonomics, which help fit the workspace to the worker.
Relationship-focused Model
Work Safe Consulting’s business model is centered on building partnerships with clients. It works closely with company management to learn the ins and outs of each worksite, to best recommend improvements to the space.
“We also strongly focus on education when working with employees,” Arroyo said. “We strive to understand the ‘why’ behind an employee that may be experiencing discomfort at work. We then provide education on how to prevent that in the future. Knowledge is power, and the more knowledge an employee has regarding staying safe at work, the less likely they will be to experience an injury in the future.”
Through Work Safe Consulting’s on-site prevention clinics, employees have free access to a skilled occupational therapist at their place of employment. This allows them to help catch work-related discomfort early and help prevent it from becoming a serious injury later.
Expanding Reach
Arroyo has hired a team of three other occupational therapists to work with her at Work Safe Consulting and since the company’s inception, revenue has grown year over year. The team takes significant time to get to know each client’s business so it can provide the most impactful solutions for them. This is not only a win for Work Safe Consulting, but for the clients.
“We are keeping Nebraska’s and Iowa’s workers uninjured,” Arroyo said.
“HR professionals will often use our services as a recruiting tool. Employees seem to be more content when working for employers who truly care about their well-being.”
Companies are continuing to recognize the value of Work Safe Consulting’s services, especially as the cost of health care and workers’ compensation are on the rise.
“Prevention models, such as the one we have developed, will continue to grow as employers see the benefit of providing preventative services,” she said.
“We help to control workers’ compensation costs by preventing work-related injuries before they happen.”
Challenging Tradition
Arroyo noted that one of her biggest hurdles in growing the company has been finding like-minded occupational therapists to hire.
“The prevention model I have developed is very different than the reactionary model that exists in traditional therapy,” she said. “The majority of the services we provide to our clients and their employees are centered around education, rather than treatment. Some therapists think the model is fantastic, others are very uncomfortable with the idea of providing education rather than insurance-based treatment.”
Once she hires a new therapist, they undergo a full training on the company’s model, so they are ready to start interacting with clients.
Looking ahead, Arroyo believes that demand for her company’s services will continue to grow.
“Caring enough about your employees to provide prevention services can help a company to stand out to potential employees in this very tough job market that all employers are facing currently,” she said. “I believe that employers will need to start looking at prevention services in order to control their costs of business. Ensuring your employees are not injured can lead to many cost savings.”
