Risk Profile Improvement
Back injuries have a bad reputation. “The workman looks upon them with apprehension, the insurance company with doubt, the medical examiner with suspicion, the lawyer with uncertainty, and the court with as open a mind as is possible under the circumstances….”
This statement was written in 1917. Not much has changed since then.
Workers’ Comp Claimant fraud–when an employee deliberately falsifies facts about an illness or injury to collect benefits–is the most commonly discussed form of workers’ comp fraud. Here are a few examples of how to recognize this type of fraud:
Routine work can dull alertness and a relaxed attitude can replace the caution that existed when the job was new and interesting. In many jobs the same route is traveled daily over the same roads or the same tasks are repeated with little conscious thought. Without some periodic reawakening to the ever-present hazards, lethargy deepens and the odds of an accident occurring can increase.
Workers may not always recognize the importance of safety training or think of it as unnecessary because they’ve “been doing it for years.” But an important benefit of periodic safety training is the reminder that a danger can exist and the no one is immune to accidents. Therefore, it is important for workers to understand the purpose of the training session, why it will be useful to them, and what can result from not following safety rules and procedures.
When adopting best practices in Workers’ Compensation (WC) claims management, even simply identifying where to start can be intimidating for employers if they rely solely on their claims administrator. To achieve best outcomes, employers should take an active role in developing internal best practices and align them with a claims administrator who supports the same philosophy.
The key elements to a successful WC claims-management program will have both pre- and post-injury components. It’s said that “the best WC claim is the one that never happens,” therefore, the first step is avoiding claims through safety and health programs. The second is mitigating costs once a claim occurs.
With medical expenses accounting for more than 60 percent of a WC claim, injury strategies must address this cost driver through programs that keep employees healthy.
via Analysis: Best Practices for Monitoring Property, Casualty and WC Claims | PropertyCasualty360.
Cost control and injury management are the basic yet most important management programs that can impact workers’ compensation loss costs. Focusing efforts on prompt claim reporting, controlling medical costs and having a plan to get injured employees back to work as quickly as possible can have an impact on controlling your workers’ compensation claim costs.
The top four causes of construction fatalities are: Falls, Struck-By, Caught-In/Between and Electrocutions.
Prevent Falls
Prevent Struck-By
Prevent Caught-In/Between
Prevent Electrocutions
Thousands of accidents occur throughout the United States every day. The failure of people, equipment, supplies, or surroundings to behave or react as expected causes most of them. Accident investigations determine how and why these failures occur. By using the information gained through an investigation, a similar, or perhaps more disastrous, accident may be prevented. It is important to conduct accident investigations with prevention in mind.
Safety cultures consist of shared beliefs, practices, and attitudes that exist at an establishment. Culture is the atmosphere created by those beliefs, attitudes, etc., which shape our behavior. An organizations safety culture is the result of a number of factors such as:
Employees must know before they get hurt who they should talk to when they suffer an injury. Immediate injury reporting is a key to keeping injury costs as low as possible. Studies have shown that the costs of an injury go up when there is a delay in reporting. Make it your policy that any employee injury is reported before the end of the shift.
Zero work-related injuries and illnesses have been long-standing goals for Alcoa. But when zero first became the target, it seemed unreachable. “Accidents are inevitable” was often the response.
It’s not. They felt they could attain zero. That it is possible, and, in many locations, it is already there, thanks to dedicated effort and a firm commitment to their core values, one of which is to work safely, promote wellness, and protect the environment.
via Alcoa: Worldwide: Sustainability: Enhancing Our Workplace: Safety.