Employee Injury Notification
Program Cuts Mod, Saves $135K
Insured
Located in Eastern Pennsylvania, the plastics manufacturer has 78 full-time
employees and reported revenues of $22 million in 2005. The company manufactures
plastic sheets and molds plastic parts for industrial, commercial and residential
use.
Situation
With an Experience Mod already at 1.35, more than twice the 0.65 minimum
level, the employers were notified of another 25% increase in the mod, which
would raise it to 1.685 and drive up their premium by $78,459. At the root
of the higher- than-necessary mod was a four-year average for injury claims
of $213,321. The company witnessed an annual average of 18 injury claims
with roughly five each year resulting in lost time at work.
Assessment
After initial skepticism about being able to improve their situation, the
employers allowed a team of Certified WorkComp Advisors (CWCAs) to review
their business. A thorough review of the previous four years showed that
the employers did not have a set procedure in place for employees to report
injuries, nor were their supervisors trained to handle subordinates who
were injured on the job.
Solution
The CWCAs implemented a 14-point-plan that included detailed procedures
for reporting injuries, specified where the employees should go for initial
medical evaluations and identified “light duty” jobs that injured
employees could still perform even if they were not able to handle the physical
requirements of their regular positions.
Result
Within a year of instituting the 14-point program, total claims dropped
to just 14. Even more impressive, was that none of them resulted in lost
time from work. The effect of this was to drive down the net claims to only
$12,438 – more than $200,000 less then the manufacturer had averaged
over the previous four years. After 20 days of negotiating on the employers’
behalf, the CWCA’s convinced the insurance company to bypass the normal
one-year lag in the state’s experience mod system and assign the employers’
new premium on the basis of the progress made.
As a result, rather than an increase of $78,459, the manufacturer’s
premium decreased by $52,114 – a total overall savings of $135,073
for that year! |