Early Incident Reporting Saves Money and Headaches
A strong focus and commitment to injury prevention is the most surefire way to improve your safety metrics and reduce your workers’ comp costs. When prevention activities fail, and an injury occurs, it is equally important to have strong claims handling procedures in place. In fact, our data supports that claims reported within a week are 44% less expensive than those reported at four weeks! Here are some other benefits of early claim reporting:
- Decreases attorney involvement – 31% of claims reported after four weeks have attorney involvement.
- Claims close faster – 71% of claims reported after four weeks are still open at 18 months.
- Allows immediate incident investigation, which can help your safety team identify cause and avoid similar injuries in the future.
- Promotes a caring and helpful atmosphere. When you know an incident occurred, you can help your worker navigate the confusing L&I system and overcome barriers with medical treatment.
- Provides critical information for early claims management.
- Provides a level of accountability and helps you avoid fraudulent claims.
Our team of dedicated claim managers is here to help you navigate the claims process, and the sooner we know about a claim, the sooner we can help. Please report claims to us immediately by calling your ERNwest Claim Manager, reporting claims via email at claimsreporting@ernwest.com, or report claims securely online in our ERNwest Reporting Portal.
GRIP Safety Committee
Are you or someone within your company in a safety-related position and are looking for a place to share safety challenges, best practices and industry updates quarterly? If you are interested in participating in the quarterly safety committee meeting, please provide your contact information.
Return to Work (RTW)
The single most powerful tool an employer has in controlling its workers’ compensation costs is immediately providing meaningful work.
SEPTEMBER TIP: Be aware of your return-to-work rights as an employer. Even providing modified work to a problematic employee can be the “right” choice for you.
Making Money with RTW – for Free!
Avoiding Time-loss benefits through Return to Work (RTW) lowers your L&I premium rates and increases your GRIP refunds. GRIP is excited to launch a new program that, when combined with L&I’s Stay at Work program, reimburses you up to 100% of the base wages for injured employees working modified duty. Now you can enjoy the enormous cost savings that come with avoiding state time loss benefits at no expense to your company. Go to our website for detailed information. (Password: WorkSafe)
Focus on Safety (FOS) –
Struck By | FALLS
Each month we will focus on one of these incidents which cause the most injuries in the construction industry.
Falls from Heights
Falls from elevated heights is the leading causes of death in construction. Roofers specifically, have the fifth-highest work-related death rate in construction with 30 deaths per 100,000 full-time employees. To put this in perspective, this is twice the national average for all construction work annually. It is extremely important that employers identify fall hazards prior to work and communicate how they plan on mitigating risk on the jobsite.
Below are tips to prevent falls from roofs and elevated heights:
- Plan for roof work using a fall protection work plan.
- Inspect fall protection equipment such as harnesses and lanyards.
- Conduct fall safety toolbox meetings and training with crew members and subcontractors
- Place guardrails around skylights and place solid covers on roof openings.
- Contact utility companies to de-energize or insulate overhead power lines before roof work begins.
ERNwest FOS Webinar Series – September Training
Each month ERNwest offers topical discussions about safety strategies unique to your industry. Download the 2021 Calendar of FOS Webinars as part of our available training and refer back to ERNwest.com/training for updates and additions.
09/16/2021 | 10:00 AM | 10 Feet Tall and Bulletproof
Presented by: Jack Jackson, Safestart
Does the term “that’ll never happen to me” sound familiar? Do you have people in your organization that are “10 Feet Tall and Bulletproof?” Jack Jackson, president of Zion Safety Consulting and senior consultant with Safestart, will lead attendees through the transition all employees need to make, from thinking that nothing can hurt us to learning from our mistakes. Jack previously led a former employer to a 10-year period without a lost time accident and will engage us in critical thinking about safety cultures in the workplace.
09/28/2021 | 10:00 AM | Cracking the Code on Lower Back Pain
Presented by: Dr. Rindal, Vimocity
Lower back pain can affect us all. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics states 1 in 5 on-the-job injuries involves the lower back. Dr. Kevin Rindal will present innovative strategies for preventing lower back injuries before they occur while concurrently building a more resilient workforce. Dr. Rindal, co-founder of Vimocity, has worked with the U.S. Olympic Swim Team, treated patients in his clinic, and taught classes to more than 20,000 industrial and office-based workers in multiple industries.
L&I Proposed 2022 Rates are Coming Soon!
As we move towards cooler fall temperatures, a first look at your 2022 industrial insurance rates are just around the corner. L&I will announce proposed base rates for each of Washington’s 300 industrial insurance risk classifications at the end of September or beginning of October. Notification of final rates are then sent out in December. The base rates vary by risk class and reflect how much risk is inherent in each type of work.
Base insurance rates vary by risk class and industry type. The amount of base rate you pay is determined by your company’s workers’ compensation experience. L&I is looking at the hours and claims reported for your company from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2020, to estimate how much loss you are likely to have next year. From there, they will determine how much premium they need to collect to pay for those losses.
There are things you can do now to lower your experience modification factor in future years and lower the amount of premium you’ll need to pay for your industrial insurance.
- Build a strong safety program. Safety is the most proactive thing an employer can do to improve worker’s compensation performance. Avoiding injuries lowers your overall premium and helps maximize your refunds if you participate in the retrospective rating program.
- When injuries happen, return your employees back to work as quickly as medically appropriate. Time away from work is detrimental to you, your employees and your bottom line. By bringing people quickly back to work, you can lower claim costs, lower your insurance premiums and increase your retro refunds.
For more information and training on how industrial insurance rates are determined, please sign up for one of our upcoming trainings at www.ernwest.com.
If you want to know more about how to lower your industrial insurance premium, please contact your ERNwest claim manager or group manager.
Other Safety Information
GRIP Members, Are You Prepared?
Wildfires, COVID, floods, earthquake, and injuries are just a few of the disruptions GRIP members can face. September is National Preparedness Month and the time to make updates and review your emergency contacts and procedures. Go to ready.gov/business to learn about preparedness planning for your business.
Governor’s Health and Safety Conference
September 28 – 30, 2021, Online
The annual Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference offers training and education and provides the latest tools, technologies and strategies for workplace safety and health. The Exhibit Hall brings you the latest products and services from vendors, and immersive, pre-conference training sessions will be an available option to further your knowledge. Go online to learn more and to register for this virtual conference.
GRIP Members – Live Training is back!
ERNwest will host live training events to GRIP members in the MBAKS building, every first Thursday of the month, through the end of the year.
09/02/2021 | 1:00 PM | DOSH Compliance – Expect the Unexpected
Upcoming Training
ERNwest Webinar Training
ERNwest presents topics such as Understanding Industrial Insurance Rates, What is Retro? and Using Kept on Salary and Modified Duty Effectively on a monthly basis. Select a topic for more information and to register.
September 2, 2021 at 2pm | What is Retro?
September 7, 2021 at 10am | Understanding Industrial Insurance
September 14, 2021 at 1pm | DOSH Compliance – Expect the Unexpected
September 21, 2021 at 10am | Fundamentals of Claims Management
September 23, 2021 at 1pm | DOSH Compliance – Expect the Unexpected
September 28, 2021 at 10am | Using Kept on Salary and Modified Duty Effectively
Find more training online at ernwest.com/training.
Latest COVID-19 Updates
Additional RETRO Resources
GRIP Safety Resources
Access Toolbox Tips and general safety resources. Learn more.
Workplace incident or injury?
Contact ERNwest first.
Report incidents immediately so that your claims manager is aware and can help guide you through the process.
ERNwest.com/report-an-incident
Contact
For precautionary reasons related to COVID-19, MBAKS offices are closed until King County enters Phase 3. Staff is working remotely and can be reached via phone or email. Events and class cancellations are noted on the MBAKS Events Calendar. Refer to the MBAKS COVID-19/Updates for up-to-date information.
GRIP Retro Questions?
Ashlee Day, GRIP Group Manager, (253) 237-0809 | ADay@ernwest.com
GRIP Safety Questions?
Ann Kershul, GRIP Safety Manager, (253) 237-0819 | AKershul@ernwest.com
Michael Octave CSP, CHST, VP Safety, (253) 237-0812 | MOctave@ernwest.com
GRIP Stay-At-Work Questions?
Annette Brown, GRIP Stay-At-Work Coordinator, (253) 372-2357 | SAW2@ERNwest.com
