How To Save Money on Workers Compensation
The key to saving money on your workers compensation is more than just stopping a few accidents; it is having sound safety procedures designed to continually improve. By having an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) compliant safety program can reduce injuries, illnesses and save Workers Compensation dollars.
A broker from GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. will do this for you and can offer additional ways to save money on your workers comp insurance.
Safety Program Goals
- Create a risk control service plan based on your workers’ compensation losses. Pay particular attention to frequency and severity of claims to craft an appropriate plan.
- Justify your risk control expenditures strategically to senior management so you receive the budget you need. Be sure they understand the importance of your company’s safety program and the money it saves in the long run.
- Based on your experience with prior claims, create a workers’ compensation cost allocation program. Budget money by examining what types of claims you’ve had over the past several years and their cost.
- Benchmark your company’s workers’ compensation performance against other comparable companies in your industry. This will help you identify areas to improve upon.
General Safety Procedures
- Protect your employees by minimizing any job hazards. You should always be evaluating every aspects of your workplace to ensure the safest environment possible.
- Prepare emergency announcements, and do test runs of emergency response systems to familiarize employees.
- Choose a practical flooring surface, not just one that looks nice. Often, the best looking floors can be the most dangerous and will be slippery when wet.
- Customize work spaces to fit each employee’s needs through ergonomic adjustments. By ensuring that an employee’s work space is tailored, you create a safer environment less prone to bodily stress or injury, and thus, less prone to workers’ compensation claims.
- Educate your employees on the safest way to lift objects. Squatting with bent knees minimizes the stress to the back, regardless of what is being lifted.
- Create a policy on distracted driving. Motor vehicle accidents account for a large percentage of work-related fatalities. Eating and drinking, cell phone use and music devices are all possible sources of distraction behind the wheel. The use of such devices could also be illegal, as more state and federal agencies crack down on distracted driving. A good policy can help prevent fatalities and limit liability for your company.
- Along the same lines, prohibit texting while driving regardless of whether or not your state specifically prohibits the practice. Texting while driving makes an employee 23 times more likely to have an accident. A federal ban prohibiting divers of commercial vehicles from texting has also been recently enacted. Create a written policy for both distracted driving and texting while driving, and have all employees sign off on it.
- Establish and enforce disciplinary measures for safety violations. There should be some type of corrective action for any employee who doesn’t abide by safety requirements.
- Train your supervisors in-house. They may have previously been trained as supervisors in general, but they need to also be trained in your particular work environment.
Learn More About Workers Compensation
Download our “Money Saving Workers Compensation Tips”. This PDF is full of Workers Compensation strategies that will positively effect your bottom line.
California’s Leader in Workers Compensation Insurance and Risk Management
As one of the fastest growing agencies in California, .GDI Insurance Agency, Inc is able to provide its clients with the latest and greatest of what the insurance industry has to offer and much, much more. With locations across the heart of California’s Central Valley and beyond to provide a local feel to the solutions and services we provide our clients. We pride ourselves on exceeding our client’s expectations in every interaction to make sure that our client’s know how much we value and appreciate their business.
Contact us today 1-209-634-2929 for your California Workers Compensation insurance quote!