Editor's Note: This article has been contributed by Kevin Ring, director of community growth for the Institute of WorkComp Professionals.
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how the term “older worker” is being redefined in today's workplace, as well as costs associated with typical injuries sustained on the job and how injury prevention should be a crucial component of the hiring process.
Now let's focus on injury reporting and what employees must know before they suffer an injury, including whom they should contact when they get hurt. 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.
Once the injury is reported, getting the proper treatment is key.
Building Relationships
Agents should help employers build a relationship with an occupational medical provider in your area. You can find board certified occupational doctors on the web at acoem.org. Even if there isn't an occupational medicine specialist in your town, you can develop a relationship with a physician and send your injured employees to that doctor.
The goal of having a relationship with a doctor is to ensure that the doctor knows the business and the physical demands that employees are under. They should also have a good knowledge of the transitional work that the employer has available. When a doctor knows that you will accept an employee back to work on transitional duty, they are far more likely to send them back to work rather than send them home to sit on the couch and watch infomercials for attorneys at 1-800-SUE-THEM. When an employee is at work, they are less likely to hire an attorney and more likely to work hard to get back to their full duty position. This process not only gets employees back to work more quickly, it also reduces the amount of money that the insurance company spends on employee injuries, reducing the clients experience mod and therefore their workers' compensation insurance costs.
The workforce is getting older, and we need to be mindful of accommodations that older workers may need today that they didn't need before. However, this new research from NCCI should sharpen employers focus on what can drive down injury rates and costs, like hiring the right people, training them to do their jobs safely and when accidents do happen, have them reported immediately and treated by a skilled physician that will send them back to work, rather that send them home.
If agents help employers follow those steps, then having older, experienced workers on the payroll can be a great asset rather than a potential liability. It can also create clients for life.
Kevin Ring is a licensed property and casualty insurance agent and co-developer of a new workers' comp software suite designed to help insurance professionals in working with employers. He may be reached at 828-274-0959 or [email protected].
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