How to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Insurance Claims and Control Costs For Your Business

With every injury or accident, the cost of a business workers' compensation policy increases. Each claim counts against your business, escalating the cost of workers' comp and negatively impacting your company financially. Continuing incidents can also be detrimental to employee morale as workers worry that safety may be a concern or that the company could not support them if they do become injured.

The best way to gain control of your company's workers' comp expenses is to first minimize safety risks. A company can do this by prioritizing safety measures, best practices, and employee well-being through a few thoughtful strategies. Consider these eight strategies which can both improve safety for your workforce and reduce workers' com insurance claims to control costs for your business.

1) Implement a Safety Plan

Every company needs a comprehensive safety plan. Your facilities, tasks, and routines will define what needs to be included in the plan and in training your team to adhere to safety best practices. You may need to implement policies regarding the safe heavy lifting of boxes or products, or you may need to provide your entire team with additional training on the use of heavy machinery. Even the break room should be included in the writing of your safety plan, with rules about wiping up spills immediately before someone has a chance to slip on an unexpectedly wet floor.

With your safety plan should also come appointed safety officers. These are employees who are responsible for keeping an eye on their workspace and fixing or reporting any safety hazards that may arise.

2) Identify and Address Workplace Hazards

This brings us to the consideration of safety hazards. Responsible leadership can sit down and list every possible workplace hazard. Some elements of the workplace or job duties pose a greater risk than others. By identifying hazards that exist in your work environment, you empower your company to address these hazards. You may devise a safety policy and train your team on how to work around the hazard carefully, or you can set up safety barriers or provide safety gear that ensures the hazard is less of a risk.

You can take measures like salting the slippery winter parking lot and properly ventilating any space where dust or fumes are released. With the process of hazard identification and correction, you can remain flexible and address safety concerns as they become apparent.

3) Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Training for Employees.

Ensure that your team has the personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to safely handle any hazardous materials or situations. PPE protects the eyes, hands, and other parts of the body to prevent exactly the types of injuries that can be predicted. 

You will also want to consider safety training for your team. Safety training should directly relate to a team member's role to ensure that they both fully understand the training and can apply it to daily responsibilities. Safety training for current tasks and responsibilities is also the most likely to be adhered to when the safety directly relates to an employee's personal tasks.

When cross-training occurs, don't forget to train your cross-skill employees in the safety measures of their alternate team and equip them with the proper PPE for the job.

4) Wellness Programs Manage Stress, Promote Fitness, and Improve Lifestyle

Many employers overlook the importance of a wellness program. Prioritizing employee wellness also prioritizes their health, focus, and ability to do their best. Wellness programs focus on an employee's overall well-being. They address workplace stress to help employees avoid getting overtired or inattentive from burnout. They can promote fitness and opportunities for physical exercise so that employees become healthier over time. Wellness programs may also seek ways to improve an employee's lifestyle including getting plenty of rest, access to healthy foods, financial stability, and family time.

When these considerations are covered, an employee is more likely to be energetic, focused, and attentive at work which will reduce their risk for accidents, injuries, or susceptibility to work-related illness.

5) Have Return-to-Work Programs for Injured Employees

Return-to-work programs focus on helping employees return to work after an injury, addressing several matters that relate to the cost of workers' compensation. An employee who returns to work sooner can begin earning again after their injury while on a potentially different work assignment that may be easier for the injured employee to perform. Returning to work reduces their lost income that must be recovered in a workers' compensation claim. 

Return-to-work programs also allow the employer to keep track of the employee's rate of healing, provide support, assign work, and ensure that employees do not maintain disability status for any longer than necessary. Another advantage to consider is employee morale. Employees who perform meaningful work often feel better emotionally, and other employees can see that the injured employee is valued and accommodated.

6) Monitor and Analyze Claims Data

You can learn a lot from looking at the data collected from previous workers' compensation cases. Employers can examine the frequency and details of incidents to identify risk patterns and take preventative actions. Companies can track the types of injuries and recovery times to better plan employee support and return to work after an employee has been injured. You may also notice other patterns that allow you to improve workplace safety and prevent related incidents from happening in the future.

7) Proactive Claims Management Program

When a new workers' compensation claim is filed, manage the claims actively. A proactive claims management program ensures that no detail slips through the cracks and every employee is fully supported in their recovery. Claims management involves investigating the circumstances of an injury, collaborating with the employee's medical care team to track their recovery progress, and customizing each return-to-work path for the individual needs of each injured employee.

Claims management provides attentive care to injured employees, and identifies opportunities for future injury prevention, and the thorough approach is also effective at identifying false or exaggerated claims to help control costs to your company.

8) Monitor Compliance with Regulations

Lastly, you can help control costs related to workplace injuries by ensuring that your company is always in compliance with safety and workplace regulations. These regulations were carefully put together to enhance safety, protecting both workers and employers from unnecessary accidents. Compliance can decrease the risk of injuries and simultaneously protect your company from fines for non-compliance.

9) Enhance Your Safety and Savings with Alloy

If your business is concerned with the rising cost of workers' compensation claims, these proactive methods can help to reduce costs by preventing accidents, supporting injured employees, and minimizing the risk of non-compliance fees. In addition to implementing these solutions independently, you can also work with an expert Administrative Services Organization (ASO) like Alloy to help you identify risk, minimize harm, and actively manage workers' compensation claims that occur. Contact us for a Free Claims Assessment to learn how Alloy can help your company reduce workers' compensation costs.