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Is everything possible being done to protect your company from the costly impacts of Workers Compensation claims? As an employer, you know that injuries will happen. However, this doesn't mean you shouldn't try to prevent them by knowing the dynamics and some of the solutions recommended by the experts. Minor Injury, Major Claim. It's the small injuries that often result in big claims. Some statistics show that 80% of workplace injuries are inconsequential, meaning they just require first aid or a trip to a physician. Eight percent of such claims are sprains and strains to the neck, back and various joints. However, these types of injuries account for an estimated 80%-90% of the system's costs. Major claims are likely to follow if the frequency of such seemingly inconsequential injuries isn't addressed. Falsified/Exaggerated Claims. Claims that didn't actually occur or that occurred outside the workplace are only representative of a small fraction of claims. However, employers can implement tip lines, video surveillance, drug screenings both before employment and after accidents, and so forth to reduce false claims: The larger problem is from exaggerated injuries. Employers can take these steps to address exaggerated claims: Get injured employees immediate and appropriate treatment. Even if duties need to be temporarily modified, get injured employees back to work as quick as possible. Ensure supervisors communicate with injured employees and convey their concern and support. Do as much as possible to reduce the disruption employees may face post-injury. Assess and address behavioral issues that could be driving an injured employee's disability. Observing Patterns. Experts have recognized that there are patterns of reoccurring claims within groups, such as among certain industries or particular groups of employees. For example, more injuries may be seen in equipment operators that don't receive proper eye screenings. Overweight employees tend to have more injuries than those of an average weight. The healing of injuries may be longer and more difficult among diabetic employees. Overexertion, meaning doing too much; too fast; and/or too frequently, is one of the primary causes of sprain and strain injuries. This often comes from an employee demanding more of their body than it's capable of doing. The challenge is that this is a human behavior. Studies have shown that the majority of workplace injuries are from unsafe acts, not unsafe conditions. In other words, even in the absence of workplace hazards, injuries will happen. Additionally, there are also patterns of reoccurring fraudulent and exaggerated claims, such as an employee that seems to repeatedly have accidents. Claim Reduction. Begin at the hiring process, ensuring that potential employees are capable of doing the physical and mental demands you've listed in the applicable job description. It's important to understand that injury prevention must be embraced at the leadership level to be effective. Statistics show employees are most likely to have injuries when they feel their management doesn't care. You might also consider: Excellent workplace safety programs. Efficient communication programs that allow you, injured employees, and insurance adjusters to easily communicate. A post-injury protocol, specifying the immediate reporting of an injury to appropriate personnel. Routing injured employees to seek medical care from a provider specializing in occupational injuries. Staying in touch with both the injured employee and their medical provider, making sure that you communicate your concern and care to the employee as they recover and accommodate any physical restriction recommended by the provider upon their return. Cost Mitigation. Employers can take several routes to reduce the financial impact of claims. Transitional duty programs that enable an injured employee to continue some capacity of working as they recover would be one example. Research shows that around 40% of employers don't currently have a transitional duty program. Another example would be referencing treatment guidelines to determine typical recovery times for various injuries. This information can be used to approximate how long it should take an injured employee to be treated and recover. Employers may consider having an on-site clinic for employees to go for both acute injuries and everyday health issues. Partnering with a physical therapy network may be a consideration. Research has shown that companies affiliated with physical therapy networks see injured employees returning to full-duty work 30% faster. Wellness, Don't Be Afraid. Lastly, some employers are apprehensive about implementing wellness programs because they're concerned that participation itself may cause injuries. However, the risk of such is far outweighed by the many benefits of a wellness program, including claim-related benefits like healing faster and being able to resume work sooner. Remember, the success of any program comes from it being accepted from the top down. Content provided by Transformer Marketing.

No one expects the worst to happen, but sometimes it just does. Whether it is a complete power outage or a fire breaking out in your break room, preparing for the unexpected should be part of your overall safety program. While prevention should always be your first priority, preparedness may reduce the severity of the event and help maintain your employees' safety. Emergency Planning is Your Responsibility Every company should have a published, well-communicated and practiced emergency preparedness and life safety plan. The National Fire Protection Association and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) provide codes, regulations and guidance on emergency action and fire prevention plans, including minimum standards. OSHA, in fact, requires a written emergency action plan for workplaces with 10 or more employees. Employers with fewer than 10 employees must still have an emergency action plan, but they may communicate the plan orally to employees. Of course, a plan is only as good as its effectiveness, when put into action. How would your plan fare in a real emergency? Do your employees know what to do? These are questions to ask before an emergency happens. Communicating, training and drilling are all essential elements to include in your emergency action plan, and can help make the critical difference in life safety outcomes. Effective Planning Can Save Lives In the first critical minutes of an emergency, taking the right steps can help save lives. Planning ahead and maintaining a well-trained emergency team can help make the critical difference. Appoint, organize and train designated staff with their emergency response duties and responsibilities. Document and distribute emergency procedures, including how to notify the fire department, evacuate employees and provide accommodations for those with special assistance needs. Publish instructions for the use of emergency equipment, such as the voice communication system, the alarm system or emergency power supply system. Post procedures for confining, controlling and extinguishing fires. Post procedures for assisting the fire department in accessing and locating the fire. Communicate your evacuation plan to all employees, visitors, vendors and contractors. Distribute the plan to emergency personnel who will be responsible for taking actions to maximize the safety of building occupants, including the fire department and designated emergency management and supervisory staff. Post your evacuation/floor plan exit diagram in clearly visible locations. Assign locations away from the building or job site for employees to gather. Practice drills on a regular basis. Monitor and evaluate drill performance to consider improvements. Include full, partial and shelter-in-place evacuations, designed in cooperation with local authorities, to familiarize employees with procedures. Develop a roll call system to account for all persons and notifications to the fire department of any missing person. Travelers safety professionals see a broad spectrum of businesses and facilities and understand the plans used to ensure emergency preparedness. Every day, we share our insights with our customers to help keep their businesses, and most importantly, their people, safe.

Email marketing is the grand-daddy of interactive online marketing. Email marketing has been around for more than 15 years. It is directly or indirectly related to the advent of every other interactive communication platform, including instant messaging, texting, social media, forum interaction and more. But, email marketing remains one of the hardest strategies to implement for an insurance agency (or any business for that matter). The challenges abound... Read the entire article that describes in great detail what parts of the execution cycle to outsource, provides useful tips on how to get through spam filters and where to procure content, email delivery and other important steps required to effectively market/communicate via mass email marketing.

The severity and frequency of Workers’ Compensation claims has a direct bearing on the policy premium. The WCIRB uses both of these factors to determine the Xmod, and frequent small claims are a cost driver. Too many claims, or large claim amounts, can result in an XMod that increases the premium.  Having a good claims history can result in an Xmod that reduced the premium. This is an incentive for businesses to provide a safe place of business and to help reduce or prevent claims. As a business, how can you administer claim to keep the claim cost minimized? Many companies do not have any procedures in place for workplace injuries or incidents. Small to medium size businesses often erroneously think that only large businesses need to have incident reporting plans and set procedures. No matter what size business you have, having a plan in place before any injuries occur is how businesses can effectively manage their claims. What are the action steps for a Workers’ Compensation Claim? All injuries, even minor ones, should be reported to the appropriate person. This can be a manager, a supervisor or the owner. An injury reporting plan is your first defense against managing claim severity and frequency. Untreated injuries can turn in to larger claims later, which is why all injuries need to be reported to the appropriate person to be assessed, treated and documented. Your injury reporting plan should clearly define what an injured employee, or other employee, should do if another employee is injured. First aid stations or kits should be easily accessible. It is your duty to provide immediate medical treatment in the event of an injury. If no first aid is required at the time of the injury, the injury still needs to be reported and documented fully for your records. Documentation is vitally important in the management of Workers’ Compensation claims. Not only should the time and nature of the injury be listed, but what the employee was doing at the time of the injury and what factors contributed to it. If possible, document the injury and the area where it happened with photos. In addition to having the employee complete the incident or injury report, any witnesses should also provide their written statement relating to what happened. Statements should be taken as soon as possible and documented fully. This helps not only to provide a clear idea of what happened, but can help protect your business from fraudulent claims. If the injury is severe, or the medical issue is beyond the scope of basic first aid, make sure that the employee is seen by a medical professional. Emergencies should necessitate a call to 911 without delay. If the employee needs to see a doctor, but it does not require an ambulance, have a plan in place to get them to a hospital or clinic. Your injury procedures should include a plan of how to determine the severity and scope of the injury in order to easily determine if 911 should be called or if they employee should be taken to a clinic or emergency room, or if they are okay to take themselves. Some states require that there is a designated doctor for injuries and illnesses that are work related. This information should be posted in a visible area along with the required postings for Workers Compensation that the states require. If the injury requires further attention, the employee needs to specify when they are seen that it is a work related injury when they arrive at the clinic, doctor or emergency room. Usually, the sooner medical help is received, the better the treatment outcome and the claim costs are lower. Delaying getting medical help can increase claim costs in the long run. If an injured employee refuses medical help, make sure that refusal is documented as well. Claims should be reported as soon as possible to your Workers’ Compensation carrier. Prompt reporting helps to mitigate the total cost of the claim. Carriers would like that all claims be reported but with claim frequency having an impact on the Xmod, it is a management call if first aid claims get reported or just documented. If you do not report a minor first aid claim to the Workers’ Compensation carrier, one of your written procedures should be to follow up with the employee and document the follow up. If you do report a first aid claim, make sure that it is reported specifically as a first aid claim. First aid claims are usually closed quickly with only medical costs being reported and paid directly to the clinic. Once you report the claim, give as much information as you have regarding the incident, first aid steps taken and where the employee was treated. All of the incident documentation should be sent along with the first notice of claim. Your Workers’ Compensation policy will have details on claims reporting. What happens after I report a claim? Once you report a claim, you can still take steps to minimize the total claim costs. To minimize time off work employers should have a back to work plan to accommodate injured employees. Light duty (modified duty) programs help lower overall claim costs by eliminating total disability payments. Make sure that the employee is medically cleared for light or modified duty before allowing them back to work. Stay in contact with your employee to stay on top of their progress. You can establish procedures to check in with them weekly, or every few days, to find out how they are doing. Communication is a great tool, and employees should feel like they have an open line of communication with management. The goal is not to pressure them to come back to work, but to make sure they know that they are valued as an employee and their wellbeing matters. Work with them to establish a return to work timeline and what work restrictions to expect when they come back. This will help you create a light duty plan to accommodate their injury or illness. Make sure that they get their medical restrictions in writing so you can have documentation for the file. As with any type of claim, documentation is important. With Workers’ Compensation claims, not only are their immediate medical costs, but they involve reserve amounts that are set aside. By taking steps to minimize injuries, and to immediately handle them, companies can help claims cost be lowered by having clear lines of communication to get their employees back to work, even with light duty. In addition to having an injury reporting plan, it is also recommended to have an accident investigation plan. In the event of an accident, it should be investigated as to what caused, or contributed to the injury, and what steps can be made to prevent it from happening again.

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