Loss control program melts Workers’ Compensation costs

INSURED

This ice cream manufacturing and dairy operation have 16 full-time employees with revenues of $4,700,870.

SITUATION

The ice cream manufacturer was saddled with an Experience Mod of 1.698, more than three times the 0.65 minimum mod. Five job-related injury claims cost the employer more than $53,000, including one when an employee claimed to have injured his back and another employee who reported he had dislocated his shoulder getting out of a truck.

ASSESSMENT

The CWCAs were called in to review the business. It was discovered that the company did not have a hiring program for identifying possible Workers’ Compensation claim-prone employees. Because of the claims history, the CWCAs were asked to perform a loss control and safety assessment and proposed a recommended program. Their findings revealed that the company did not have a safety committee, a relationship with an occupational medical facility or recovery-at-work program.

SOLUTION

The company accepted the recommendation. Working together, the CWCAs installed a complete WorkComp process including implementing a hiring program, establishing a relationship with an occupational medical facility and installing an aggressive recovery-at-work program. The CWCAs installed a safety committee and took responsibility for operating it with the company. This process included forklift, lock out–tag out, and confined space training. Through the safety committee meetings, Risk Managers “teamed” with employees to help prevent losses in the workplace and provide the employer with risk management services that included accident investigation and raising employee awareness that zero accidents can be an achievable goal, as well as providing safety training.

RESULT

As a direct result of the Advisors’ work over two and one-half years, the company’s Mod factor melted away. Even with a 25% increase in payroll, the Workers’ Compensation premium dropped from $48,000 to $28,000 and the property and casualty premium went from $52,000 to $29,000. The protocols put in place over the past two years have produced significant results: the company has had only one Workers’ Comp claim totaling $523.