Workers’ Compensation rates have been trending downward, as have the number of job-related injuries. Even injuries totaling $50,000 or more dropped for the first time in 2005. But before we let loose the balloons and congratulate ourselves on what is...

How do companies keep score in workers’ compensation? Typically insurance carriers provide basic or “top of the line measurements,” such as annual totals of claim expenditures, average claims costs for medical only claims and average claims costs for lost time...

It is obvious, yet often overlooked, factor in controlling the costs of Workers’ Compensation. It is the immediate supervisor, or more accurately, the person who is the perceived loss of the injured employee. While this may seem like a no-brainer,...

The National Safety Council’s (NSC) recently issued the report, Prescription Pain Medications: A Fatal Cure for Injured Workers, identifies 15 court cases from 2009 through 2015, where an employer was sued because of the prescribed use of opioids to treat...

Many businesses accept on “good faith” that the Workers’ Comp audit is done correctly. Yet, the audit process is complex and prone to many errors and omissions. Since a Workers’ Compensation premium is estimated initially, the actual cost is determined...

Employers have spent a lot of time and money on the traditional solutions to slips, trips, and falls, which occur in almost every type of workplace, yet they still account for: More than 95 million lost work days per year...

Ice and snow-related slip and fall workers’ comp claims nearly doubled and represented one-third of claims involving time away from work last year in the Midwest area, which had a particularly harsh winter. In five Midwest states, including Michigan, Wisconsin,...

According to an article in Business Insurance (September 14, 2015), injured employees are more likely to win retaliation claims because comp cases have a lower burden of proof and there is empathy for the injured worker. It is not only the termination...

Communication is an essential element in realizing business profitability, and managing workers’ comp costs is no exception. When communication suffers and an employee’s injuries are not properly managed, the experience mod goes up, premiums increase, and profits plummet. The sad...

Produced annually, the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index identifies the leading causes of the most disabling workplace injuries (resulting in six or more days of lost time) and ranks them by total Workers’ Compensation costs. The top five causes that...