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
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.
-
Who
Can Reject Uninsured Motorist and Personal Injury
Protection Coverage?—Brent Cooper and
Dana Harbin look at the disparity among the state
courts regarding who has the right to reject UM/PIP
coverage, in what form, and under what circumstances.
-
Insured
Fixed-Price Cleanups in Response to FASB's New Requirements—IFCs
are commonly used at Superfund sites, Brownfield
developments, and other environmental cleanups.
The new FASB rule removes a loophole with regard
to environmental and other Asset Retirement Obligations.
Michael Hill explains.
- Connecticut Liberalizes
"Four Corners" Rule—Relying on information
from multiple sources, the Connecticut Supreme Court
looked outside the insurance policy to rule that
an employee was an "insured." Kevin Merriman explains.
-
Rescission
in California—Misrepresentations or concealment
of material facts—whether intentional or not—can
leave an insured without coverage, even for a legitimate
claim. Barry Zalma looks at a recent case on point.
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.
IRMI Update is sent to subscribers by plain text e-mail twice
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