Doctor Needs to Know Duties Of Each Job
Most employers create job duty videos after a string or one serious accident occurs in a policy year. Videoing the job tasks for all jobs is a great Risk Management technique.
The Doctor should know their duties of each job are important.Once again, I am tying up the loose ends of my last several posts. This had to do with one of the Five Keys to Controlling Your Workers Comp Costs. The most important one of the Keys was to direct medical control. One of the other important Keys was to devise and use a full return to work program in your business.
The easiest way to have the treating physicians in your area know the job duties of the various jobs at your employer is to record a full video of all the job duties of each job. This allows the Workers Comp treating physician to virtually visit your job site to examine the duties of each job. When an injured employee sees the treating physician, having a visual record of the job duties makes it much easier for a successful return to work by the physician.
I very often have seen a doctor not release the employee back to work on a modified duty return to work or full return to work as he/she did not have a list of the job duties. If anyone thinks this is not important, the increase in Workers Comp costs by not having the job duties recorded is an increase in cost of 800%.
Most of the Workers Compensation Boards or Courts are not very favorable to having the job duties recorded after an injury. The best way to accomplish this task is before any employee is injured by making a video job bank of all the jobs and their duties. This is a very successful loss reduction strategy. There are many companies that specialize in job duty videos. Make sure the company that makes the videos has a vast knowledge of Workers Compensation return to work. An employer can make their own, but the videos must be specific to each job.
The cost may seem a little exorbitant. However, the 800% increase in claims $ spent would justify the costs. The other side of the coin from loss reduction is aiding the employee in returning to a job safely.
I did not mention modified return to work as the laws vary so much on videos of job duties for modified jobs. As I said before, this would be made post-injury. The Industrial Commissions are not that favorable on making a video after the injury. Your company could still make videos of the job duties. You would need to check with your state laws on videoing the job duties for a modified return to work. Some states have “anti-make work” laws that prohibit just making up a job out of thin air to save on paying Workers Comp benefits.
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