These 5 Workers’ Comp Best Practices Can Minimize Your Risk

Workers' compensation is an integral part of the modern work infrastructure. In theory, it is supposed to protect both workers and their employers from the high costs of workplace injury recovery. In practice, however, it can burden everyone when poorly implemented. The workers' compensation system is not inherently easy to use, and often, employers wind up paying far more than they need to for insufficient coverage of their team members due to misconfigured policies and inexpert case management.

Workers’ Comp Best Practices For Employers in 2024

While some businesses deal with a higher risk of workplace injuries, all companies aim to keep their team safe and taken care of. While achieving this goal and improving your workers' compensation strategy is a work in progress, you can always take measures to minimize the risk of a claim by reducing the risk of an injury. Let's explore five workers’ comp best practices you can implement to reduce the frequency and severity of worksite injuries.

1. Implement a Safety Program

First and foremost, implement a safety program. A safety program is an ongoing plan and set of policies focused on minimizing the risk of worksite injuries. A safety plan should be comprehensive, starting with safety training and ending with nominated safety officers who lead on-site safety, mitigating known hazards and encouraging everyone toward safer routines at all times.

As part of operating your safety program, regularly seek to identify workplace hazards and mitigate their risk. Through leadership, training, and ingrained routine, you can work to ensure safety procedures are followed at all times.

2. Maintain a Safe Work Environment

Make the maintenance of safe working environments one of your top priorities, both in the workplace and for any off-site locations where you may operate. Constantly seek to identify hazards that could pose a safety risk - no matter how benign they seem - before an accident occurs.

Hazards to watch for include:

• Look for slippery floors, unsafe work equipment, and ledges or stairs without railings, among other potentially dangerous conditions.
• Watch for tripping hazards. Pin up extension cords and measure all electrical loads. Repair damaged concrete floors and put down safety mats wherever necessary.
• Ensure all machinery is caged off where access is not necessary and locked up when not in use.

We also recommend encouraging your team to maintain a safe work environment:

• Talk to your employees about reporting and fixing safety issues that they may already be aware of, as your team is your best connection to the daily details of the work environment.
• You should also make sure to provide frequent training on how to safely use machinery and features of the worksite.
• PPE (personal protective equipment) also plays an important role. Make sure your team is regularly trained and re-trained on how and when to use PPE so that it is always used effectively for the greatest safety benefit.

3. Employers Should Regularly Assess and Manage Risks

Routinely seek to identify and assess risks that employees may face while performing their duties. This involves not just environmental threats but also the equipment your team uses, the methods they enact, and the routines they go through. Your business will determine what you specifically need to do to manage risks, such as ensuring your team is properly trained and equipped to lift boxes or safely operate palette-moving machinery like forklifts and dollies and routinely checking all ladders and other essential safety equipment to ensure it operates properly.

Once again, don't be afraid to ask your team members to report when they perceive risk and how that risk could be mitigated, and routinely review safety procedures with your team to handle potentially risky routines.

Ultimately, you must implement measures to reduce or eliminate identified risks and regularly review and update your safety program to ensure that protections against identified risks remain effective.

4. Require Prompt Reporting of Workplace Accidents and Injuries

You can do everything in your power to prevent accidents and injuries, but they will likely happen from time to time. Sometimes, a hand slips, an ankle turns, or equipment malfunctions even when everyone is as safe as possible. When this happens, require your team to report accidents or injuries immediately.

Promptly reporting any accidents or injuries is critical to ensure that your employees receive any necessary medical care and that the report is as complete as possible for the sake of a workers' compensation claim. An immediate report also allows you to address any hazards that played a role in the injury so that no one else is exposed to the same risk.

Encourage employees to report incidents as soon as they occur, emphasizing that you are there to ensure they are OK and that proper reporting is essential to provide complete and compassionate care.

Learn more about The Top 7 Ways to Control Workers' Comp Costs!

5. Establish a Drug-Free Workplace Policy

Lastly, ensure that everyone in your workplace and on each job site is drug-free. To establish a drug-free workplace policy, we recommend that you:

• Develop and communicate a written policy clearly outlining your expectations regarding intoxicating substances or working at reduced capacity.
• Consider covering working while sick at the same time, emphasizing that you would rather they stay home to recover from the flu than come to work on cough syrup that may impair their ability to avoid an accident.
• Train your employees on the drug policy and clarify the consequences for violating those policies.
• You may want to establish a drug testing program while also providing support and resources for employees that are struggling with substance abuse. This provides a combination of strict safety adherence and compassion for people who may need help before they can reliably meet the new safe workplace requirements.

We Feel Your Pain
Managing workers’ compensation can be a difficult task for any business in an industry where workers are routinely at higher risk. There are many problems facing companies with significant workers’ compensation exposure, and we can help. Start Here to reduce both your workplace injury risk and your workers’ compensation costs.