One of the biggest causes of work comp costs is a lengthy time loss of work from a disability. If an employee was injured on Jan. 1st, and healed by Jan. 15th, then the employee should return to work on Jan. 15th – not June 15th or July 15th! Keeping your employees recovery time proportionate to the actual length of medical disability will help you save money.
There are several ways protect yourself from unnecessary work comp costs. Create or adopt a Transitional Duty Policy that requires participation when an employee is injured. Communicate this program to your workforce in a positive way so that it becomes part of the corporate culture. Creating a culture that promotes a safe environment improves confidence and awareness for your employees. Establish a goal to bring back injured workers faster. Develop a Health and Wellness Room program to help aid with transitional duty and safety re-education. Communicate with your Health and Wellness Room to talk about progress and obstacles that are preventing the injured employee from returning to work.
These are just some suggestions that might help your business move forward towards reducing work comp costs. Involve everyone from the janitor to the CEO on developing a program that helps return the injured employee back to work. Input from all levels helps create unity on the construction of the program, and creates an understanding for the need of this program on all levels. Create a “Safety Culture” that can be embraced by everyone in your business.
With our economy spinning out of control, this is the best time to develop a program that can reduce lost time and save your valuable capital. Use these steps to guide you through the process of evaluating your plans for a return to work program. The best way to be prepared is to have a plan!