Claims/injury management

The principal effect of compensation pressures claims/injury management... 

Many injuries are relatively minor and result normally in only a few days off work. Firms which have adopted intensive claims/injury management practices discover that many of these cases may require medical treatment, bandaging for example, but not necessarily time off work. Even a cut which requires stitching or a back... 

It seems likely that the downward trend evident since the mid-1980s is to a considerable extent attributable to improved injury management, of the type described at Eastern Colliery. The Joint Coal Board has conducted seminars for colliery managers on how to reduce claims costs, and it is well known in the industry that some of the best LTIFRs have been achieved by strenuous efforts to keep the injured at work, on alternative duties if necessary. Joint Coal Board data provide evidence of the extent of this process. Between 1981 and 1992 the proportion of claims which resulted in lost time fell from 86 per cent to 56 per cent Ooint Coal Board 1992, p. 6). What this means is that, whereas in 1981 the great majority... 

In those jurisdictions where a formal workers compensation system is in effect, the compensation health records provide the most definitive information available because the medical, social, and work history of each employee who applies for workers compensation is investigated in comprehensive detail and is made available in large part to management. Currently, relatively few illnesses, as compared to injuries, are considered for workers compensation claims. However, if a cluster can be found with the same type of complaint, that information can be invaluable. Similar information can be obtained from private insurance companies who provide employee coverage in place of workers compensation. 

Establish the context. What are the goals of the risk management process What are potential vulnerabilities of the business Do employees or patients risk injuries How might the reputation of the pharmacy suffer if a patient was injured owing to a prescription error or if his or her health condition was inadvertently made public by an employee Could costly claims be avoided by not providing certain services or products ... 

The standard contract usually indicates that the Project Manager speaks and acts for the Owner. When the Owner s representative gives working instructions directly to a craftsman, a situation of co-employership is set up. The workers get their check from one party (the contractor) but their working instructions and directions from another (the Owner). Thus they, in effect, have two employers. The courts hold both employers responsible in case of accident or injury. In cases where co-employership is claimed, both the Owner and the Project Manager are open for legal action. 

Managing Workers Compensation A Guide to Injury Reduction and Effective Claim Management, Keith R. Wertz and James J. Bryant... 

Habeck, Hunt, and VanTol (1998), Habeck et al. (1998), Hunt and Habeck (1993), and Hunt et al. (1993)—extending the earlier research of Habeck (1993), Habeck, Leahy, and Hunt (1988), and Habeck et al. (1991)—relate the disability outcomes of 220 Michigan firms to those firms HRM practices. This research is the first serious analysis of how management safety culture affects injury claims. In addition to collecting survey information for the 220 firms, Hunt et al. (1993) held extensive interviews with 32 of the 220 firms and find a qualitative difference in those firms that engage in what the researchers call a participative culture. In other words, they find a qualitative difference between firms that facilitate employee involvement in decision making and those where the employees do not participate in the firm s decision making. 

Park merges Minnesota workers compensation claims with survey data from the Minnesota Human Resource Management Practice file, developed at the Industrial Relations Center at the University of Minnesota. He finds that employee participation in decision making lowers the injury claim rate, as our model suggests, but that the reduction is not statistically significant. 

Like employee partieipation in deeision making, there is some evidence that improved management safety eulture lowers the injury claim rate, and that greater exeeutive involvement in the firm s safety processes lowers the rate of injuries. We expect the same to be true in our sample. Though this has not been examined in the earlier literature, we expect that as the management safety eulture improves (as our measures increase), the severity of injuries will fall as well. 

Railroad labor representatives were more of a mixed mind. One union safety official refused to answer the question, citing his belief that safety has not really improved since 1980, but that instead, railroads have been under-reporting injuries and accidents. Another labor representative felt that the FRA is very cognizant of the financial condition of railroads and this affects its judgment. This respondent provided an anecdotal example, in which he claimed the FRA attempted to shut down a Midwestern terminal due to severe safety problems, but after rail management s pleas, the agency considered the company s poor financial condition and decided not to shut it down. 

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