On January 1, 2011, California expanded the definition of what constituted a “serious violation” of workplace safety standards, which are enforced by Cal/OSHA. Now, if there is a “realistic possibility” that serious injury could result from a workplace hazard, a serious violation is warranted. A “serious physical injury” includes:
In the latest report on California’s workers’ compensation insurance results, both for this year and for 2009, all indications are that costs are heading up significantly. For the most recent accident year, 2009, losses are 11% higher as a share of premium than for the prior year, and the highest loss ratio since 2002, which was a financial disaster for the state’s insurance companies.
The total cost of an average “lost time” or indemnity injury workers’ compensation claim is now reported to be $61,664, up 6% from last year. Of this amount, $42,613 on average is for medical costs, and these expenses are up 8% from the prior year.
In contrast, the average premium rate charged by workers’ compensation insurers is up only 1%.
With many employers facing renewal of their workers’ compensation insurance policies on January 1, 2011, they need to be working now with their insurance agents to obtain the best options for the New Year.
Don Dressler
New Book Offers Useful Tips that Enable Employers to Design and Implement a Cal/OSHA Injury and Illness Prevention Strategy
IRVINE, CALIF., — NOVEMBER 30, 2010 – Don Dressler, a national leader in human resources and risk management solutions, and architect of the www.CalOfficeSafety.com website, is pleased to announce the publication his new book – California Office Safety, effective immediately.
California Office Safety provides a clear guide for California business owners proven processes to maintain and preserve the safety and ongoing productivity of their employees. The book is based on Dressler’s experience in heading a workers’ compensation insurance company, a corporate CEO concerned about his employees’ welfare, and as a consultant focused on safety and human resources for the past seven years.
“There is no such thing as an “accident.” Instead, there are situations that employers allow to happen, Dressler said.” Dressler concluded “There are dangers for which employees could be prepared, however they have not been trained, equipped or supervised to appropriately deal with them; my new book offers clear, concise plans that enable employers to implement processes that protect their employees’ safety and satisfy Cal/OSHA legal requirements.”
California Office Safety is available in hardback or e-book LuLu.com on Amazon. It can also be ordered on the Cal Office Safety website.
Don Dressler
If an employee has an injury or illness, one of the most effective actions an employer can take is to help the employee get back to full duty working as quickly as possible. Return to work programs save literally millions of dollars for workers’ compensation programs every year, and due to the experience modification process for most employers, this money returns to them right on their bottom line.
The most common work injury is a strain, and frequently a doctor will give the employee a slip authorizing them to be off work for one, two weeks or more. This is strange because none of this time off is needed for the employee’s recovery if the employer is advised of proper work limitations to promote healing. In fact, workers heal quicker when they return to the job with the proper supervision, know that they are valued as employees, and, keep up their general morale and fitness.
Statistics indicate that there is a 30% chance that injured employees who do not immediately return to work will never return to their jobs. Temporary disability benefits can easily cost $50,000 or more over a two-year period, and these benefits can increase an employer’s workers’ compensation costs by $100,00 or more over the next three years.
Don Dressler – For a “Return-to-Work” Program outline, just e-mail: DonDressler1@hotmail.com
You need to take a hard look at your company policy regarding employee use of cell phones. Of course California and a number of other states have laws regulating cell phone use (and text messaging) while driving, but the concern is greater than that.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has overwhelming statistical evidence that distracted driving is a major cause of vehicle accidents. Some observers suggest the denial of workers’ compensation benefits to cell phone users injured in work related vehicle accidents may become a major incentive to create a safer work environment. USDOT is leaning toward banning all use of cell phones by drivers.
Employers have become increasingly concerned over employee “cognitive distraction” caused by the use of cell phones in motor vehicles. Methods of enforcement will include the use of traffic cameras as the system already has the capability of detecting drivers who are using telephones while driving.
Also, telephone billing records produced post accident can be used to corroborate the fact that an employee was using a telephone while working, when an accident occurred.
Employers – who do not enforce a ban on cell phone use will have significant legal liabilities as a result.
Email me at DonDressler1@hotmail.com for suggested policy language on use of cell phones while driving.
Finding a good doctor to treat work injuries is key to controlling workers’ compensation costs and avoiding workers’ compensation fraud. But it is not always easy to do.
One Southern California employer was recently looking for a physician to treat an employee with a low back strain, but found that the list of doctors from his workers’ compensation insurer was almost useless. Many of the doctors on the list were either out of business, not accepting new patients or not experienced in occupational medicine.
But, there is help available. The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has just published “A Guide to High Value Physician Services in Workers’ Compensation – How to find the best available care for your injured workers.”
Many studies show that there is a wide variation in the quality of medical care available to treat workers injured on the job. Often people treated in the workers’ compensation system take longer to recover and at much greater cost than those treated through “normal” medical systems.
Let’s face it, almost all employees want timely, courteous and effective medical care when they are injured, that helps them return to health as quickly as possible with the least discomfort. For employers, good medical results means getting workers back to work in the most time-effective manner possible with the best long-term health outcomes.
You can download the entire Guide American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, which also contains a Doctor Finder on the site.
Consider forming a safety committee for your organization. Why? Because a committee gives you more focus on safety, more eyes and ears in more places, and do so without increasing your costs.
There are some myths about safety committees – that they relieve the employers and their managers of responsibility for safety and that they take the place of other safety programs. Not so. Safety is a “non-delegable” responsibility. It is always owners and managers’ job to keep employees safe.
However, at the current time in California, the average workers’ compensation claim costs $39,198 in “direct” costs, meaning expenses paid by the workers’ compensation insurance company per claim. We know that “indirect” costs, the costs of time involved in investigation, personnel to cover the job of the injured worker, burden on supervisors, repair of equipment, etc. is at least the same. So, the average work injury costs about $80,000 in direct and indirect costs.
What is the value of identifying hazards and training employees to avoid these injuries? That is where a safety committee really pays off.
Recently I read a great article co-authored by Robert J. Barth, Ph.D. and J. Mark Melhorn, M.D. about how often medical providers classify employee’s injuries as work related and thus, covered by workers’ compensation based on opinion without using current available science. This is a particular concern because the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Disease and Injury Causation (referred to as AMA Causation) is an available resource (Sept. 3, 2010 – WorkCompCentral.com).
Examples specified in AMA Causation include:
Conversely, AMA Causation also explains that the potential work-relatedness of some conditions may go unrecognized because of the less-than-obvious nature of the relevant occupational risks.
One factor in the development of such discrepancies is the dominant tendency for workers’ compensation systems to allow doctors to offer opinions, rather than facts, regarding work-relatedness.
One survey of a panel of doctors about how they determine work-relatedness revealed the prevailing response that they don’t — they simply assume work-relatedness based on the fact that the patient came to see them in the context of a workers’ compensation claim.
In reviewing the accident reports of a clerical office this past week, I was reminded again that apparently one of the most dangerous activities many of us engage in each day is simply walking.
Why is that simply putting one foot in front of the other results in so many work injuries? After all, slips, trips and falls are a major cause of injuries on the job, and away from work as well.
According to OSHA data, slips and falls cause 15% of all accidental deaths, second only to motor vehicles.
Nationally, 10% of all work injuries are caused by slips, trips and falls. Now some of these injuries involve ladders, construction and heights. But most of them are injuries from just walking from one place to another. Why?
Slips are primarily caused by a slippery surface and compounded by wearing the wrong footwear. Proper housekeeping can contribute to safety and the prevention of falls. Walking too fast, distractions; not watching where we are going, and failing to use handrails are also factors.
None of us want to be one of the 1 million Americans each year who experience a slip or fall, and certainly don’t want to be one of the approximately 17,000 workers who die from such incidents annually.
If you would like to share your own experiences or talk about similar problems in your organization, call me at 949-533-3742 or send me a reply:.. Don Dressler e-mail.
National leader in labor law, risk management and human resources solutions, Don Dressler, has been designing customized HR packages that significantly reduce workers compensation costs, protect employers from non-compliance, while providing effective worker training solutions to southern California companies for more than twenty years.
