Workers Compensation Insurance

Companies can undertake 13 possible courses of action to manage and reduce the costs associated with workers’ compensation insurance premiums and claims. (RS45-1, p. 21) In no particular order, these are:

1. Prevent injuries by implementing the recommendations of the CII Zero Accidents Task Force as contained in CII Special Publication 32-2, Zero Injury Economics.
2. Identify high-risk workers’ compensation jurisdictions when pursing business opportunities.
3. Educate employers, employees, and employee representatives about workers’ compensation and its impact on business.
4. Use post-employment medical health screening to identify appropriate work assignments for employees.
5. Participate in the selection of medical providers.
6. Use modified work programs for injured employees so that they can continue to work without further risk of injury to themselves or others.
7. Actively manage the relationship and work processes with the insurance carrier/provider.
8. Participate in approving/denying claims; watch for and investigate possible fraud.
9. Maintain contact with injured employees to be sure their needs are being met and to keep them informed of worksite activates.
10. Drive accountability for workers’ compensation costs down to projects and supervisors.
11. Provide on-site first aid capabilities, commensurate with the size of the job.
12. Place safety and workers’ compensation within the same organizational unit with clear expectations for close coordination.
13. Evaluate subcontractors’ safety and workers’ compensation performance using the same guidelines as for the prime contractor.

EMR has become too emphasized by Owners as a single measure of contractor safety performance. Consider the following four additional measures for contractor selection related to safety: (RS45-1, p. 23)

• OSHA incident rates for recent years, for actual construction work
• Contractor’s safety program, and actual practices followed
• A new metric proposed by RT-45, the WCCFI (Workers’ Compensation Claims Frequency Indicator)
• Specific performance of the proposed project manager in the above criteria

Based on industry expert input, workers’ compensation cost savings of 10-20% were considered possible by applying RT-45 recommendations, with those savings accruing through both direct and indirect benefits. (RS45-1, p. 24)

IR45-2, Field Guide to Workers’ Compensation

This Guide provides information for use in minimizing costs and controlling the rehabilitation process so that injured workers can return to work as soon as medically feasible.

Topics covered in this Field Guide include:

• Detailed breakdown of direct and indirect costs of workers’ compensation
• Description of the appropriate roles and responsibilities of the various parties involved in workers’ compensation activities
• Definition of EMR and description of each factor considered in its development
• Injury prevention and avoidance
• Pre- and post-injury management
• Claims management issues

This Guide also contains three guideline checklists:

• One for identifying and capturing information on your workers’ compensation team
• One for use in assessing potential contractors’ safety performance
• One for capturing facts when an accident occurs