Where does risk management fall on your organization’s list of priorities? How would you rank your existing safety culture? When was the last time you evaluated your organization’s workers’ compensation management program? Don’t be surprised if your organization begins asking these questions given the recent changes to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) experience modification factor (read about the changes here). Regardless of the NCCI revision and how your organization might be affected, employers should continually assess their current risk management practices to ensure that efficiencies and regulatory compliance are achieved.
Why should you continually assess your current risk management practices? Proactively implementing risk control measures can reduce injuries, improve working conditions and enhance the overall safety culture of your company. Identifying and ingraining key risk management initiatives into your workforce will prove to be beneficial, resulting in a real, positive impact on your bottom line in both the short and long term.
Similarly, evaluating and improving your organization’s current workers’ compensation and post-injury management programs can ensure best practices and cost-saving benefits. Effective programs should include:
- Mandatory new hire orientation training and annual refreshers to outline and review procedures, roles, responsibilities and expectations
- Measurable and clearly communicated safety goals
- Incident reporting and investigation protocols
- Return-to-work commitments
Strategic risk management objectives, coupled with clearly-defined and practiced workers’ compensation procedures, will enhance your organizational safety culture, and could likely save more money over time than any one budget reduction would today.
RCM&D has partnered with various industries and countless clients to maximize these best practices and cost-reducing initiatives. Please visit our website for more information on our Risk Consulting capabilities.
Follow these links for more information on proactive risk management for your organization:
Insurance Journal News Article – Cost Containment Tops Employer Concerns on Workers’ Comp: Survey
Measuring and Mitigating Workers’ Compensation Costs
Area Development Online – Workers Comp Prevention Cost Savings