The Travelers Insurance Companies, one of the largest underwriters of workers’ compensation insurance in the U.S. analyzed over one and a half million workers’ compensation claims which occurred over a four-year period of time.
Here are a few of the insights they discovered and my thoughts on them:
35% of workplace injuries occurred during a worker’s first year on the job.
Think about that for a moment a third of all workplace injuries happen to workers on the job in one year or less.
This is not really a startling statistic. It’s pretty well known that year one of a worker’s time on the job is statistically the most probable time when an injury will occur.
If you’ve experienced problems with workers’ compensation claims, I bet this 35% statistic probably is pretty close to your particular circumstances.
Right? It’s pretty consistent from what I’ve seen in my career.
How do you change that statistic?
The good news is that by focusing extra attention on this group of employees – especially in the hospitality industry – specifically restaurants, manufacturing, construction industry, and trucking industry, you will likely experience a significant drop in overall claim numbers.
That means you’ve got to give new workers more than a cursory safety meeting on day one or two of their employment.
New workers are not familiar with their new work surroundings, processes, and safety procedures so early and frequent training is a must-do.
So what’s the right strategy? How do you do the right training? What is going to work?
That is going to depend on your workplace, your claim history, and your culture.
Need help figuring out the right strategy for reducing worker’s compensation claims?
Your insurance broker should be able to provide you with the guidance you need to get on the right track here.
If not, it may be time for a new broker – give me a call!
The top three common causes of first-year injuries are also not surprising:
Overexertion accounts for 27% of injuries,
Slip, Trips, and Falls comes in at 22% and
struck by objects is third at 14%.
I have seen these top three pretty consistently for not only first-year but long-term workers in manufacturing, restaurants, and construction.
Again, your particular loss history will tell a story.
Get to know your loss runs and what that story says to create strategies to reduce and minimize these claims.
Finally, first-year workers’ compensation claims for missed days away from work accounted for 37% of all missed days.
Again, consistent with the first finding that more than a third of injuries and missed days come from workers on the job for less than a year.
Interesting findings – as I said, not necessarily shocking to me, but the fact that this is more than antidotal information teased out of 1.5 million claim records is pretty significant.
If you’ve got claim problems with workers’ compensation and you don’t feel you’re getting the attention you deserve, let’s chat.
No pressure, no sales gimmicks – just some conversation to see if I can help you and your firm get on the right track when it comes to safety and workers’ compensation.
The bottom line is that my experience in controlling worker injury risk can work to your benefit.
I’ll act as your outsourced risk manager and help get you on the right track and keep you there to reduce costs and improve productivity.
Thanks.
