IRMI Update—Issue #42
An E-mail Newsletter for Risk and Insurance Professionals
ISSN: 1530-7948
June 4, 2002
In This Issue
Colleague,
Many good things happen as the result of the work of risk management and
insurance professionals, but the most important one of all is the lives we save.
Whether you are a risk manager who works directly with safety programs or an
insurance broker or underwriter who simply encourages the executives at the
companies you insure to pay more than lip service to safety, you are saving
lives. Too often, those with an indirect impact on safety forget about this
important aspect of their work. Don't let this be the case with you. Take pride
in knowing that good risk management keeps people alive and well.
Along that line, Janine Reid recently published a compilation of proven methods
to eliminate construction industry fatalities. Each of the 89 tips was contributed
by an experienced risk professional. There is something in this book for almost
anyone who manages construction risks, and I liked it so much we are making
it available through our Web site. Follow this link to learn more about
Saving Lives! Proven
Methods to Eliminate Job-Site Fatalities or to order your copy.
We have many registrations for our seminars on Group Captives and Other ART
Solutions for the Middle Market, but there is still room remaining at each location.
To learn more or to reserve your spot, follow this link.
Thank you very much for your support and confidence, and best wishes for
a wonderful summer.
All the best,
Jack
Jack P. Gibson
President
IRMI
Four Ways To Control WC Costs. After being
involved in WC in 15 different states over the years, I have noticed that there
are four critical keys to keeping WC costs under control. These keys are time-tested
and will work in most states. They are:
- timely first reporting of claims,
- immediate medical control,
- return-to-work programs, and
- employee treatment.
The timely first reporting of claims not only allows the employee to receive
benefits soon after his or her accident, but also authorizes the adjuster to
start the investigation of the claim. Mailing in first reports to your insurer
loses valuable time on all claims. Report all claims online or fax them. The
first 72 hours of a WC claim sets the tone for the claim and greatly influences
the reserves on the file.
Controlling the medical portion of the claim is a challenge, especially in
a state where the employee has a choice of medical treatment. However, most
of the time, the employee will consent to see a physician that the employer
recommends. Industrial-minded medical treatment can be accessed in almost all
areas of the United States.
If an employer refuses a modified or full duty return to work for an employee,
the file will usually turn out to be considered permanent total. Refusing an
employee with a full duty return to work will usually result in the insurer
reserving the file as a permanent total status. The reserves can increase exponentially.
A functioning return-to-work program can substantially reduce the number of
permanent total disability claims.
The employer must treat the out-of-work employee well to avoid attorney involvement
and other problems. Communicate that you care. For example, sending an e-card
is an economical way to show an injured employee that his/her coworkers are
thinking of him/her. E-cards are free or can be purchased for a very economical
cost. Almost everyone has an e-mail address today. A regular card through the
mail is just as effective.
By: James J. Moore, AIC, MBA
President
J&L Insurance Consultants, Inc.
E-mail: jmoore@cutcompcosts.com
Suggest a Risk Tip. Future issues of IRMI Update will include more risk tips from our readers. Send
us a practical tip (less than 300 words) for identifying and managing risks,
buying insurance, managing claims, or filling gaps in insurance coverages. We'll
give you credit for your contribution.
There are now 294 articles on IRMI.com, and many more are in production.
Below you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.
-
The Language of
Enterprise Risk Management—Jerry Miccolis summarizes the terminology
common to companies that practice ERM, which forms a large part the emerging
global "language of risk."
-
Heavy Equipment
Theft and Solutions—In this first of four articles, David Shillingford
addresses the size and nature of the equipment theft problem and how to
align prevention with business goals and the function of management.
-
Contractual Liability
and the CGL Policy—What is meant by contractual liability and
how it actually works is not always well understood. In this new column,
Craig Stanovich helps clear up the misconceptions.
-
Considering Self-Insuring
WC in a Tight Market?—Martin McGavin examines the reasons self-insurance
can be less expensive, its intangible benefits, and how to perform a cost-benefit
analysis between insurance and self-insurance.
How To Evaluate a Group Captive. The hardening
market has people looking for innovative solutions. However, a bad decision
can cost much more than a 300 percent premium increase! A new seminar from IRMI,
"Group Captives and Other ART Solutions for the Middle Market," will explain
how group captives and rent-a-captives work and how to determine whether they
are right for your company (or your clients). Designed for busy executives (only
2 days out of the office and 1 night in a hotel), this seminar will equip you
to make the right decision.
In IRMI Update #41, Jack Gibson wondered how
firms determine the best way to spend their loss control dollars. He cites the
2002 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index as providing an example of how what
some might consider a considerable loss exposure (repetitive motion injury)
may in reality prove insignificant. In answer to the question what data to use
and how to analyze it, several readers expressed their views, relating their
own experiences. Below are a few of the responses.
- The most accurate way to evaluate an individual facility's loss exposure
is to start with its history. Good workers compensation data can pinpoint
exactly where resources should be spent. Frequency of injuries can pinpoint
machines, people (i.e., repeaters), departments, processes, and even time
of day. (One large boy's facility found staff injuries occurred most frequently
on Sunday evening. Pizza and videos scheduled for Sunday afternoon resulted
in a sharp reduction in injuries.)
Adding first-aid logs to this history can be very valuable. A small cut
can be very close to a severed tendon and yet goes unnoticed. Often sources
of cuts are very easy to reduce and efforts in this domain go a long way
toward showing commitment for employee well being. (One facility had 60
cuts 1 year and the accepted viewpoint was "We expect that, we're a die
shop." Concerned management, communication to employees that this was not
an acceptable cost of doing business, and the implementation of a monitored
cut-log reduced those cuts to 23 the following year with nearly 0 capitol
investments!)
Data is only as good as the time taken to gather it, the systems available
to store, sort, and report it, and the expertise of the people reading it.
Nothing should keep us from going forward to the limits of our resources
in each of those areas.
An often-overlooked resource is the employees themselves. Ask the question
"Where should the most experienced or trustworthy person be working?" The
responses often result in improved machine guarding or redesign of procedure.
It doesn't hurt to remember that those experienced people are the ones at
risk and also the ones most valuable to an organization. Improvements in
productivity, profitability, and morale often result from that same question!
Right after a major accident an entire organization usually pulls together
to keep it from happening again. Very often the investigation following
the injury turns up a history of near misses or minor injuries under exactly
the same circumstances. It is very exciting when the whole organization
pulls together for a near miss or even potential injury, without the pain
and cost of the severity! Employees know where the risks are. The benefits
of listening to them are too well known to even begin to list. And, yet,
often the largest area of benefit is to find and remove the barriers for
this communication!
There are experts in every field. Very often the experts in accident
prevention are free and already "on staff" with the company's insurer or
agency. Requesting those resources may result in a more focused expenditure
of company resources on site-specific exposure and less spent on perceived
industry risk.
—Ted A. Buchanan, Technical Services Representative,
Acordia
- I am a safety/risk professional in the food processing industry. We
like to use the OSHA 300 logs, as well as the last 3-5 years' workers compensation
loss data, to justify spending loss control dollars. These two sources of
data give the frequency and severity of losses, measured in raw numbers
and costs respectively. This information can then be presented to upper
management and used to justify different projects, programs, etc.
In trying to be proactive, we like to complete periodic facility audits,
either by myself with other management personnel and/or by outside consultants.
The source of data that often works well here is to quote the cost of a
Cal-OSHA citation for the problems noted. For example, if a machine guard
is missing, that would be a serious citation, and would result in a fine
of a minimum of $7,000-$25,000 maximum penalty, with the base rate starting
at $18,000. I can cost justify a lot of machine guards, etc., against numbers
like these. Regulatory compliance isn't the proper moral reason to cost
justify things, but in today's world, the hefty fines get upper management's
attention and often provide the justification needed to get things done.
These three sources of data have helped us create written policies, training
programs, and capital projects (i.e., a loss control program) that has been
successful in reducing the frequency and severity of injuries and associated
costs.
—Ray Moltrum, ARM, Safety Coordinator, California Natural
Products, Lathrop, California
- The Liberty study does not surprise me at all. The hysteria over repetitive
motion injuries was driven by the misbegotten ergonomic Standard OSHA almost
implemented. The focus of OSHA has never been "LOSS DRIVEN" or at least
work comp loss driven. Soft tissue strains due to material handling have
always been the most frequent type of lost time injuries. However, when
OSHA through ANSI attempted to address the subject, they realized it was
a very difficult and more complex issue than they were willing to study.
OSHA has reacted to high-profile accidents with enforcement campaigns for
trenching, fall protection, confined space, etc., but they continue to avoid
the fundamental question of, "How much can a worker safely lift?"
I recently accompanied a general contractor client through a comprehensive
OSHA inspection at one of their projects. The officer seemed to be intent
on issuing citations for lack of a hearing conservation program. As we discussed
the issue, I was shocked by his lack of knowledge of basic industrial hygiene,
and when I told him that less than 1 percent of all work comp dollars paid
is attributed to hearing loss, he stated it is an area on which "they" had
told him to focus.
I develop action plans for several dozen accounts annually. If there
are claim issues, I analyze all past claims looking for frequency or trends/common
root causes and then for severe claims and their causes. Over time, we usually
run out of reactive issues and then we do a brainstorming session to identify
proactive areas on which to focus (rocket science it's not).
—George Robben, Loss Control Manager, Cragin & Pike,
Las Vegas
A subscription to IRMI Update is absolutely free. Use the e-mail registration form to initiate or terminate
your subscription.