Workers Compensation Safety Programs – Best Way To Save $$$
Workers Compensation safety programs are always worth the expended funds. One of the areas that employers seem to sharply decrease their budgets during economic downturns is safety. As Treasurer of the NC Mid State Safety Council, I can attest to this fact. The number of safety personnel has shrunk heavily in the last few months
One of the main ways to reduce an employer’s E-Mod is with a good safety program. I have previously posted on how safety programs will reduce E-Mods quite a few times. One of the most misunderstood areas on Workers Comp safety program is the effect on Schedule Debits/Credits.
Employers will sometimes “throw in the towel” on their safety programs if it does not show immediate results. As I have posted very often, the E-Mod system and even the LDF estimations are delayed measurements. An excellent safety program may not show great results for up to four years after it is revamped or established.
The main goal of a safety program is to avoid or reduce repetitive accidents. Repetition is the killer of any decent E-Mod or LDF. The E-Mod/X-Mod system allows for one serious accident. It does not allow for a series of accidents that even cost as little as $5,000.
For instance, 10 $5,000 accidents are much more detrimental to the E-Mod/X-Mod or LDF than one $50,000 claim. NCCI and the Rating Bureaus have established that when you have 10 accidents, there is a much higher risk of more than one of those claims becoming very large claims. I agree totally with this concept.
Safety programs have always been the best way to avoid a large number of accidents in a given period of time. There are many post-accident loss reduction strategies. Reducing a Workers Comp loss is a very difficult task. The old saying “A loss is still a loss” applies here.
The bottom line is the best way to lower an E-Mod or LDF is the accident that did not happen. Safety programs are very well worth the investment if allowed to work over a longer time span.
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