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Controlling Workers' Compensation Costs In the Corporate Environment

When it comes to managing and controlling costs for any corporation, one major area of focus is always the area of workplace safety and workers' compensation claims. This requires taking a good look at your overall occupational health practices and making improvements in workplace safety protocols, as well as making sure you have selected the proper occupational health provider to deal with injury events when they occur.

Below are some steps your business can take to help improve its occupational health practices, making for a safer, healthier workplace and keeping your workers' compensation claims to a minimum.

Four steps your business can take to control workers' compensation costs:

1. Establish A Workplace Safety Program - This is an obvious one, but one that is commonly overlooked. Having a robust workplace safety program in place is an essential element of having a safe workplace and decreasing workers' compensation costs. Design a safety program for your workplace and make it a integral part of the workplace environment. Identify all areas of concern in safety and design a way to eliminate those dangers. Bring in outside experts if you need to in order to get started. Establish a safety team and meet with them on a regular basis. Listen to worker input and address those problem areas. Elevate the concepts of "Safety-first" and "Think-safety" to a mindset that each employee buys into, and strives to adhere to and live by all the time.
2. Proper Employee Training - Many workplace injuries and accidents happen because workers were not properly trained in how to operate a tool or equipment, or were not physically performing some function properly. When it comes to operating any type of tool or equipment, it is essential that a new employee be properly trained and is knowledgeable in using and operating it - with safely as a top priority. Other workplace injuries occur as a result of things such as improper lifting techniques, or improper physical technique while performing their job. Make sure new employees know the proper way to physically perform their duties to avoid injury, and once again with the emphasis on doing it safely. Finally, make sure new employees are made a part of the safety program and make following it a priority in their job.
3. Regular Safety Reviews - Conducting regular walk-through inspections by the safety team is an important part of a successful safety program and in maintaining high safety standards. Again, it may be a good idea to bring in outside experts occasionally, such as an insurance company or an expert in your industry. Establish safety standards and goals that are clear and easily measurable so you can see when you hit your safety goals. When there is an incident, learn by it and design a process that will prevent it from happening again.
4. Choose The Right Treatment Facility - Every injury is different and It is important to have a protocol established for deciding where workers will go when there is an injury or pain, based on the type of injury or pain. If you are legally allowed to refer an employee to a chosen provider, this can help you save a lot of money by avoiding the high costs associated with a hospital Emergency Room. You can save a lot of money by sending your employees to a local health clinic that is familiar with work injury treatment and rehabilitation. Establish relationships with a local clinic or clinics, as well as a primary doctor or doctors that can handle the non-emergency injuries, and train your staff to know which one to choose to send an employee to. When choosing a health-care provider, it is very important that you work with providers that are familiar with the requirements of workers' compensation care.

Medfast Urgent Care Centers are fully prepared to treat your employees work-related injuries quickly, then provide followup care and treatment under your Workers Compensation Plan. Just give us a call and we will glad to discuss how Medfast Urgent Care Centers can provide local, non-emergency healthcare needs for your employees.