After several years of falling workers’ compensation rates, California employers are bracing for double-digit rate increases in 2010. Increased claims, rising medical costs and lower collected premiums as a result of higher unemployment leave insurance companies with no choice but to increase their rates. Regardless of workers’ compensation reform, the WCIRB has also reported that the average cost of serious claims has risen 47 percent since 2005. Unfortunately for most businesses, such rate increases could not come at a more economically challenging time.
“Most companies seeking to control their workers’ compensation claims and premiums have utilized traditional tools such as employee safety training, safety incentive programs and annual employee evaluations,” says Griff Griffith, CPA, CIC, a principal with GMGS Insurance Services. “Some measurable success has also been achieved with claim reviews when coordinated by experienced workers’ compensation claims specialists. Nevertheless, the greatest success can be achieved when a tool like GMGS’s Workers’ Compensation School is utilized to transform the culture of a company by making the employees the focus of such training.”
Smart Business spoke with Griffith about this unique risk management innovation that can help businesses mitigate the rising cost of workers’ compensation insurance.
How is a program like Workers’ Compensation School unique?
It is an employee training program taught by risk management professionals with proven results, including:
- Drastically reduced workers’ compensation premiums
- Superior employee safety performance
- Reduced frequency and severity of claims
- Special rate discounts offered by insurance carriers
- Improved employee morale and productivity
In Workers’ Compensation School, employees are taught the truth about workers’ compensation insurance and learn that they are more than just employees; they are key players in the success or failure of their workers’ compensation program. By inspiring employees to take ownership of their safety program, Workers’ Compensation School has proven to be a catalyst in reducing participant’s annual workers’ compensation premiums by thousands of dollars and, in several cases, more than $1 million dollars.