Corralling runaway workers' comp costs: for some companies, a hands-on strategy has headed off cost stampedes at the pass - includes analysis of Workers Compensation Research Institute report, and information on the Memphis Business Group on Health - Cover Story

Business & Health, April, 1991 by Pamela Taulbee

Changing the corporate culture

Making a dent in workers' compensation costs doesn't have to be complex or cost a lot up front, according to Joseph Albert, president and CEO of J.H. Albert International Insurance Advisors Inc., risk management consultants in Needham Park, Mass. Simply adjusting attitudes and communicating policies in the workplace can have a major effect, he says.

"Businesses seem to take one of two approaches, passive or aggressive, in their corporate cultures," says Albert. "The passives get a claim, report it to the insurance company, and then hope it goes away. The aggressives feel that everybody is out to beat them, so they get too touch, end up aggravating the injured employees, and even pushing them toward attorneys and lawsuits."

Albert suggests a middle ground, by which he means developing a corporate culture in which employees understand what workers' compensation is intended to do. Part of this is actively communicating that the employer supports a return to work program, Albert says.

David Ellis, associate vice president for business and finance at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., says the college saved 250 lost work days over the previous year after adopting some of Albert's suggestions.

"We looked at our loss control systems and claims management systems, looked at loss history, and then wrote a set of standards and recommendations that became college policy," Ellis explains. The policy gave supervisors clear directions on how to deal with loss control, how to treat an injured employee, and how to get people back to work. It explained the importance of communication, so t6hat every employee is well aware that the company expects them to come back to work as soon as medically permissible--even if that means coming back in a different job. The policy also discussed the importance of supervisors staying in close communication with injured employees, treating them with compassion and respect, and being as helpful as possible during the recovery process.

"It had never really been chronicled before," says Ellis, "but the supervisors and other employees caught on very quickly. Now when someone is injured, we get them right back here to work in some type of light duty."

Physician visits for two

At Consumers Power Company, Jackson, Mich., supervisors actually accompany their employees to the physician when they seek treatment for a job-related injury. According to Martha H. Miller, workers' compensation and rehabilitation administrator at the utility company, Consumers Power has written return to work plans for specific job titles. "A member of the management team can provide those to the physician and explain what out policies are," says Miller. "For example, if an employee can work but not drive, we'll arrange transportation. If an employee can't do his current job, the physician can judge from the job descriptions what other, lighter-duty work might be appropriate."

Privacy has not been an issue, Miller notes. The supervisor does not actually go into the examination room with the employee, but is there to discuss with the physician what, if any, restrictions and impairment the injured employee may be subject to.