IRMI Update—Issue #119
An E-mail Newsletter for Risk and Insurance Professionals
ISSN: 1530-7948
August 23, 2005
In This Issue
Colleague,
Did you see the July 27 Wall Street Journal
article, "BP acknowledges Troubles at
Key Refinery Unit but Blames Employees"? That headline really jumped
out at me. In reference to an explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170,
BP's North American president was quoted as saying, "I think the culture of
safety, in terms of policies and procedures, was there. But the implementation
of these policies and procedures was clearly not there, because, if it was,
the accident would not have happened." According to the article, BP has "removed
the refinery's top manager and fired a handful of other employees" for what
a BP report stated were "surprising and deeply disturbing mistakes."
My purpose here is not to question or criticize BP, its management, its policies,
or public statements as it takes the actions management feels necessary to defend
its bank account and brand against the lawsuits and allegations stemming from
this terrible tragedy. However, this crisis and BP's statements seem to provide
a valuable lesson for all risk professionals—and senior level executives—that
deserves comment here. It graphically reinforces the validity of the often cited
truism that "safety programs will succeed only if they are driven by top management."
Having the very best written policies and procedures in a binder or on a
company intranet will never create a safety culture. Merely hiring a safety
manager to implement a safety program will not work either. Safety must be an
obvious priority to senior management, for, if they ignore it, everyone else
will too, regardless of what the safety manager says or does. In those companies
that truly have "safety cultures," the CEO walks the talk by doing everything
s/he can to elevate the safety awareness of everyone in the organization. Examples
of actions CEOs may take include making safety a key corporate objective, requiring
the development of safety benchmarks and reviewing them regularly, addressing
safety in corporate meetings, and evaluating managers on their safety effectiveness.
Do you agree that the responsibility for safety rests with the board of directors
and CEO and not mid-level managers? Can you cite some examples of CEOs who have
demonstrated a real commitment to establishing a safety culture in their companies?
What are some of the most effective tactics you've seen for implementing a true
safety culture in a company? View reader responses.
Of course, safety will be one of the many topics explored at the 25th IRMI
Construction Risk Conference in Las Vegas this November. If you haven't yet
registered, why not do it now? For more information or to register visit our
conference page.
Thank you for subscribing to IRMI Update. Have a great day.
Jack
Jack P. Gibson, CPCU, CRIS, ARM
President
IRMI
Use Medical Directors Proactively To Control WC Costs—Medical
directors should be a key part of your workers compensation cost control strategy.
They should focus on improving injured employees' treatment and on improving
claim handling.
To improve medical treatment, they should review each treatment plan from
treating physicians and clinics to make sure treatment is timely and appropriate
for the medical condition. The account instructions should require adjusters
to obtain all office notes and forward them to the Medical Director.
All lost time claims with more than 10 days lost time should be reviewed
by the medical director. If your company has only a few lost time claims, the
medical director can review them all. He/she will determine whether the length
of absence is medically necessary and whether the company can locate a temporary
alternate duty job for that person. The employee should receive the Injury Treatment
Form which the treating physician has completed to review medical restrictions.
This can be faxed directly from the treating physician or brought to the medical
director by the employee upon returning from the office visit.
Medical directors should approve all requests for independent medical examiners
(IMEs) and all IME reports. In IME requests, he/she will make sure that the
timing is optimal. For example, if medical records for prior treatments or injuries
are not in the file, the medical director will have the adjuster obtain those
records prior to requesting an IME. In some states where only one IME is allowed
in 6 months, you must ensure that all useful information is in the file. Without
such information, the IME physician must rely on the patient's version of the
prior treatment.
A medical director can be a full- or part-time employee, or he/she can be
an outsourced position, depending on the volume of claims. Close communication
with the adjusters is key. This is a team effort!
Using this and other proactive strategies can reduce your workers compensation
costs 20-50 percent in less than a year.
By Rebecca Shafer, Risk Consultant/Attorney
Arthur J. Gallagher of NY, Inc.
New York
RShaferB@aol.com
Suggest a Risk Tip.
Send us a practical tip (less than 300 words) for identifying and managing risks,
buying insurance, managing claims, or filling gaps in insurance coverages.
Submit your tips. We'll
acknowledge your contribution as we did for Rebecca.
There are now 697 risk management and insurance articles on IRMI.com. Below
you'll find summaries of some recent additions with links to the articles.
August 26 is the last day to provide submissions for the annual Gary E. Bird
Horizon Award, to be presented at the 25th IRMI Construction Risk Conference.
This award was created to promote the awareness of innovative risk management
techniques and processes. To view candidate qualifications and access the required
submission packet, go to
Horizon Award web
site.
If you are proud of the accomplishments of your risk manager or safety manager
and want to give them great exposure, please submit your and your nominee's
contact information.
To learn more about the award and a past recipient's winning submission,
read Christine Fuge's "Where
Are They Now?" article.
Only one spot remains for you to promote your business to more than 1,300
contractors, project owners, brokers, underwriters, claims professionals, company
executives, and attorneys. This group of professionals will convene November
7–10 in Las Vegas for the 25th IRMI Construction Risk Conference. The ad space
is in the attendee workbook, which is referenced for years to come. This also
includes bonus exposure in the Conference handouts on IRMI.com. Please call
800-827-4242 ext. 356 to claim this last spot. To register for or learn more
about the Conference, please go to our
conference page.
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