In a recently published survey by Zywave, a leading insurance industry publisher, 59% of the 3,500 employers who responded to the survey ending February 24th 2012 said they were very concerned about workers compensation insurance rates.
There were 20 business sectors that responded. The 20 sectors with the highest response rates were: Manufactures 20%, Human Services 15%, and Construction 13%.
The participants surveyed revealed that the number one workers compensation insurance cost containment strategy was having a top down safety culture enforced and rewarded by senior management. Without senior management making safety a huge priority in the organization & getting buy in from the most important stakeholders direct supervisory management, results were spotty to poor.
Other popular workers compensation insurance cost containment strategies were nurse triage services such as Comp Call that provide on site or telephonic first report services for injured workers. Nurse Triage services reduce admin costs for employers, coordinating care sending injured workers to the nearest occupational medical center for .60 cents on the dollar spent for emergency room visits which prove very costly.
Another tactic employers are taking to avoid huge increases in their workers compensation costs are utilizing look back services like Comp Check that essentially look for incorrect workers compensation payroll audits and incorrect experience modification factor calculations. Some companies reported getting refunds over $100,000 simply by contacting a service that knows where the exemptions and exceptions are and how to file , or petition the carrier to apply the correct factors. The result is usually as substantial refund.
For more information on workers compensation payroll audits , workers compensation premium recovery, check out this 4 minute video that explains how it works. Most of these services are done on a contingency basis so there is no cost to the employer. If money is returned or refunded by the workers compensation insurance carrier then the service like Comp Check gets a small contingency fee . We strongly advocate employers look into these and other workers compensation cost containment strategies to keep your company as cost efficient as possible.
Photo by Christopher Gower on Unsplash