What if you could add 25 full-time employees to your project without increasing headcount or payroll?

It sounds impossible, but companies across construction, manufacturing, and industrial sectors are doing exactly that by recovering thousands of hours lost to inefficient occupational health processes.

The reality is stark: most companies are hemorrhaging productive time they don’t even realize they’re losing. Every offsite medical visit, every drug test that requires a half-day absence, every injury that sends a worker off-site for hours. These “minor” interruptions compound into massive productivity losses.

The math is simple, but the impact is transformative. Let’s break down how one strategic change can recover 52,000 hours annually on a single large project site.

The 3.5-Hour Gap Nobody’s Talking About

Here’s what most project managers don’t realize: when you send a worker offsite for medical testing, you’re not losing 20 minutes. You’re losing an average of 4 hours of productive time.

Let’s follow a typical offsite drug test:

Traditional Offsite Model:

• 7:00 AM — Worker notified of random drug test
• 7:15 AM — Worker leaves jobsite (work stoppage for crew)
• 7:45 AM — Arrives at testing facility
• 8:30 AM — Finally called back after waiting room delay
• 8:45 AM — Test completed, paperwork finished
• 9:30 AM — Returns to jobsite
• 10:00 AM — Re-engages with work, gets caught up on what happened

Total time lost: 3-4 hours

OnPoint Onsite Model:

• 7:00 AM — Worker notified of random drug test
• 7:05 AM — Walks to onsite health station
• 7:10 AM — Test completed with OnPoint nurse
• 7:15 AM — Returns to work

Total time lost: 15-30 minutes

The gap: 3.5 hours per incident

That’s 3.5 hours where:

• The worker isn’t on tools
• The crew may be operating short-handed
• The supervisor is managing logistics instead of the project
• Productivity momentum is broken
• Schedule pressure builds

And this is just for a routine drug test. Factor in pre-employment screenings, random testing, post-incident testing, fit testing, audiometric exams, and injury treatment, and the time losses multiply exponentially.

The Compound Effect: 
How Small Losses Become Massive Drains

Let’s start with one worker and scale up to see how quickly time losses compound.

One Worker, One Test:

• Traditional offsite: 4 hours
• OnPoint onsite: 30 minutes

Time saved: 3.5 hours

That might seem manageable. But projects don’t just test one worker once.

Ten Workers, Weekly Testing:

• 10 workers × 3.5 hours saved = 35 hours per week
• 35 hours × 52 weeks = 1,820 hours annually

Now we’re talking about nearly a full-time employee’s worth of productivity (2,080 hours/year).

But Large Projects Have Hundreds or Thousands of Workers:

Let’s look at a 1,000-person jobsite with modest health and safety requirements:

• Average 1 hour saved per worker per week (conservative estimate accounting for various testing, screenings, and minor injury treatment)
• 1,000 workers × 1 hour = 1,000 hours saved weekly
• 1,000 hours × 52 weeks = 52,000 hours annually

This “one hour per week” is conservative because it includes a mix of workers who need frequent testing (operators, safety-sensitive positions) and those who need occasional screenings (annual audiometric tests, fit testing, preventive health checks). Some workers might save 10-15 minutes weekly, while others undergoing multiple compliance tests might save 4-6 hours in a given week. Averaged across a large workforce over a full year, one hour per week per worker is a realistic and achievable benchmark.

What 52,000 Hours Actually Means

Numbers are abstract until you convert them into business impact. Here’s what 52,000 recovered hours translates to in real terms:

Workforce Capacity

52,000 hours ÷ 2,080 hours (standard work year) = 25 full-time equivalent employees.

That’s the equivalent of adding 25 full-time workers to your project without recruitment, onboarding, benefits, or additional payroll. These are hours you’re already paying for, just currently wasted on inefficiency.

Project Timeline Acceleration

For a large construction project with aggressive timelines, 52,000 hours can mean:

• 2-3 weeks of schedule acceleration on an 18-month project
• Meeting critical milestones ahead of schedule
• Avoiding liquidated damages
• Capturing early completion incentives

Revenue Opportunity

Those 52,000 recovered hours represent real revenue potential:

• At $75/hour average fully-burdened labor cost = $3.9 million in recovered labor value
• Ability to take on additional work without capacity constraints
• Improved bid competitiveness due to higher efficiency

Cost Avoidance

Beyond direct productivity, time savings translate to:

• Reduced overtime needs (work gets done during regular hours)
• Lower travel and mileage reimbursement costs
• Decreased administrative burden on supervisors and HR
• Fewer schedule compression costs

According to the National Safety Council, the total cost of work injuries in 2023 reached $176.5 billion, including $53.1 billion in lost wages and productivity. Much of this cost stems from time inefficiencies in managing injuries and health compliance.

Real-World Results: 
Construction Project Success

These aren’t hypothetical numbers. A major construction project partnered with OnPoint to implement comprehensive onsite occupational health services with measurable results:

Results Achieved:

• 21,000+ manhours saved over the project duration
• Zero unplanned downtime due to health and testing logistics
• Fully integrated onsite health and safety program

The project demonstrated that onsite occupational health services don’t just improve safety metrics, they directly impact project productivity and timeline performance. When workers can access immediate care, testing, and health services without leaving the jobsite, the cumulative time savings become a significant competitive advantage.

Beyond Testing:
Additional Time Savings

Drug and alcohol testing represents just one area of time recovery. Onsite occupational health services save time across multiple scenarios:

Immediate Injury Response: Minor injuries treated onsite within 30-60 minutes versus 4-6 hours for offsite ER visits. Many cases can be treated and closed without becoming OSHA recordables.

Health Screenings and Surveillance: Audiometric testing, respirator fit testing, and other required health screenings completed onsite during normal workday with no travel time. Batch processing during crew transitions ensures 100% compliance with minimal disruption.

Case Management: Onsite nurses coordinate all care with real-time documentation and immediate supervisor communication. This eliminates the hours typically spent chasing medical information and clarifying return-to-work status.

According to OSHA’s Business Case for Safety and Health, indirect costs such as retraining, replacement labor, and lost time can be two to four times higher than direct medical costs. Onsite health services directly address these indirect costs by minimizing disruption.

Calculate Your Potential Time Savings

Every project is different, but the math is universal: onsite occupational health services recover time that offsite models waste.

Basic Calculation Framework:

1. Number of workers on your project: _______
2. Estimated hours saved per worker per week: _______ (conservative estimate: 1 hour)
3. Weeks per year: 52
4. Annual hours recovered: _______ × _______ × 52 = _______
5. Full-time equivalents gained: _______ ÷ 2,080 = _______
6. Dollar value at $75/hour: _______ × $75 = $_______

Even with conservative estimates, the numbers quickly become significant. A 500-person project saving just 30 minutes per worker per week recovers 13,000 hours annually. A 1,000-person project saving one hour per week reaches that 52,000-hour threshold.

OSHA’s Safety Pays tool demonstrates that companies can save $4 to $6 for every $1 invested in safety and health programs, with time savings being a primary driver of this return.

The Implementation Reality

The transition to onsite occupational health is simpler than most expect:

Typical OnPoint Setup Timeline:

• Week 1: Site assessment and planning
• Week 2: Onsite facility setup
• Week 3: Nurse deployment and system integration
• Week 4+: Full operations with immediate time savings

What OnPoint Handles:

• All equipment and supplies
• Nurse staffing and scheduling
• Compliance tracking and documentation
• Coordination with external medical providers when needed
• Integration with existing safety systems

The first month typically delivers ROI as immediate time savings offset implementation costs. By month three, the compound benefits become clear in project metrics.

Every Minute Counts

In industries where margins are tight and schedules are aggressive, lost hours add up to real competitive disadvantage. The question isn’t whether you can afford onsite occupational health services, it’s whether you can afford to keep losing thousands of hours to an outdated offsite model.

52,000 hours recovered. 25 full-time equivalents gained. Millions in labor value preserved. Zero additional headcount required.

The math is clear. The case studies are proven. The only question is: how many hours will you recover this year?