Supervisors' response can drive down claims
Supervisors' response can drive down claims
Improve skills and reap savings
Look at how supervisors at your workplace respond to employees' occupational safety and health concerns; according to a national safety research institute, supervisors who are trained to properly respond, communicate, and problem-solve with employees can reduce new disability claims by close to 50%.
Active lost-time claims can also be driven down nearly 20%, according to Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Hopkinton, MA.
The supervisor-training program studied by the research institute provided education and training for both management and supervisors to help them respond better to worker injuries. The program also included suggestions for employee communication and problem-solving skills to help get injured employees back to work.
The results were dramatic, the investigators say.
"In this study, we saw a substantial reduction in injury claim frequency and disability," according to William Shaw, PhD, lead investigator. "Supervisors clearly learned new skills and expressed confidence that they could better deal with these issues. It's an effective disability prevention strategy."
Earlier studies showed that how a supervisor responds to reports of work injury influences whether an injured worker has a rapid return to work or prolonged disability. In some cases, the impact of the supervisor's response on disability was more important than either the severity of the injury or the quality of medical care. Combined with the new study results, it makes a strong case for company investment in supervisor training, says Shaw.
Communication, ergonomics important
The research study recruited 23 supervisors from a food processing plant's production department, and divided them into two roughly equal groups. Each group was responsible for about 400 employees, and both groups participated in a workshop that emphasized communication skills and ergonomic accommodation for workers who reported injuries or health concerns. However, one group — the control group — participated in the workshop seven months after the intervention group.
The outcome measures for each group, compiled from workers compensation claims data, included the number of new and existing claims, injury types, and total indemnity costs. Both groups received similar efforts to improve workplace ergonomics. The intervention group showed a 47% reduction in the number of new workers' compensation claims filed after the supervisor training workshops, while the control group showed a 19% reduction in new claims during the same time (which was prior to the control group taking the workshop). When the control group finally took the workshop, they experienced a further 19% reduction in new claims, for a total reduction of 38%.
In both groups, the number of active existing claims remained fairly constant. Of the injury claims, more than half were work-related soft-tissue disorders, including sprains, strains, inflammations, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other cumulative trauma. The study revealed no significant differences in injury type between the groups following the training workshops. Indemnity costs for new claims, as opposed to older claims, showed more improvement in the intervention group than the control group after implementing the training workshops.
(The complete study, "Controlled Case Study of Supervisor Training to Optimize Injury Response in the Food Processing Industry," is available in WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, & Rehabilitation, 2006; 26:107-114.)
Look at how supervisors at your workplace respond to employees' occupational safety and health concerns; according to a national safety research institute, supervisors who are trained to properly respond, communicate, and problem-solve with employees can reduce new disability claims by close to 50%.Subscribe Now for Access
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