{"id":1795,"date":"2013-07-10T23:12:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-11T06:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/?p=1795"},"modified":"2015-01-28T12:58:40","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T20:58:40","slug":"employee-safety-workers-compensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masonmyers.com\/employee-safety-workers-compensation\/","title":{"rendered":"Binders Don’t Make Employees Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am all for employee safety, but paperwork in a binder doesn’t cushion any accident. \u00a0This story may be an example about how worker’s comp is broken.\u00a0 I am not an expert on worker’s comp nor do I want to spend lots of time figuring it out, but it sure seems like there are lots of inefficiencies and some things don’t connect.\"Binders<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some facts from an organization I know. \u00a0The company pays its worker’s comp insurance company nearly $50,000 per year.\u00a0 For the last five years,\u00a0the company has had zero claims.\u00a0 For the five years before that, I think, there were two claims and the worst one was a sprained wrist.\u00a0\u00a0Each year the insurance service sends an auditor\u00a0to inspect payroll records; this auditor costs the company’s accounting department many hours while debating in which category each employee should be classified. \u00a0Over 10 years that is nearly $500,000 to cover a sprained wrist plus untold hours of bureaucratic talking. \u00a0Meanwhile, there continues to be nothing dangerous in this work environment.<\/p>\n

Recent Visit from the Insurance Company About Employee Safety<\/h2>\n

Earlier this year,\u00a0this company\u00a0had another visit from\u00a0the insurance company representative (the insurance company is Republic Indemnity<\/a>)\u00a0with demands on what needs to be done in addition to the privilege of paying them $50,000 per year.\u00a0 Here are quotes from an internal\u00a0memo after the visit describing the demands of the inspector. \u00a0(Anything that has\u00a0a remote chance of helping an employee or customer in an emergency, this company would do in a heartbeat; yet I think maintaining a “binder” at each location will have zero impact on safety?)\u00a0 Keep in mind that the most hazardous material at these locations is hot coffee.<\/p>\n

We have a bit of work to do to be compliant with the suggestions for an acceptable safety program.<\/em><\/p>\n

We need a Safety Binder AT EACH LOCATION with 6 tabs to include the following:<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
    Injury and Illness Prevention<\/em><\/div>\n