4 Steps to Reduce Workers’ Compensation Claims and Costs for Construction Companies

The construction industry regularly appears near the top of lists of the most dangerous industries, or industries with the highest frequency or severity of work-related injuries. Those in the construction industry hopefully are aware of how important workers’ comp for a construction company is. It is a necessity to manage and plan for unforeseen events. If employees experience on-the-job injuries, a comprehensive workers’ compensation program can reduce the financial impact on the company and help the injured worker to recover and minimize the impact on their life.

As with any industry that sees a high occurrence of occupational injuries, construction operations can be bogged down by high workers’ compensation costs. Here are some ways to help reduce workers’ compensation expenses and create an improved workplace safety culture. 

1. Check Job Classifications 

Be sure that the correct job classification codes are being used. A proper classification helps insurers estimate expenses or losses related to the risk being insured. That means misclassification results in over-insuring expenses or losses.

With hundreds of classification codes, it’s easy to misclassify jobs and it’s an incredibly common mistake. In this industry, there are numerous employee codes assigned to various individual employees, which can make it easy for an error. The classification system is extremely complex, so it is best to have a workers’ comp for construction company expert review the company’s codes.

2. Care for Injuries 

Develop a process to ensure that injured employees receive proper care. All employees must immediately report their injuries. Obtaining the proper information for documentation while showing compassion is crucial. 

With continuing medical inflation, it is especially important to ensure the employee receives the most appropriate care for their particular injury. If emergency treatment is not necessary, a walk-in occupational health or urgent care clinic is a lower-cost alternative to the emergency room. Assessing an injury upfront can help streamline an employee’s recovery, get them back to work faster and cut down on claim-related expenses.

Communicate regularly with your agent about current case facts to mitigate potential errors. If an agent isn’t updated, the experience modification factor may be calculated incorrectly. Any unnecessary reserves will increase workers’ comp costs. Eliminate any open cases that should be closed and minimize the number of reserves on the claim.

3. Review Experience Modification Factors 

If claims remain open and injury costs escalate, reserves rise and adversely affect the employer’s experience modification factor, thus increasing costs so ensure that your modification factor is accurate. 

The experience modification is made up of data provided by many different companies including payroll data from a payroll company, claims data from an insurance company and job classification data from the employer. 

The modification factor essentially drives the premiums, so review its experience modification prior to the date they are required to submit payroll and loss data to the rating bureau. 

4. Create a Return-to-Work (RTW) Program 

Companies with comprehensive “back to work” programs can minimize or eliminate lost-time claims by bringing an injured worker back to work as soon as it is practical. It shows the employee they’re valued and can still be productive in another capacity on the job. This can increase retention thus reducing costs both on insurance and recruitment.

Identify activities that injured workers can do within the organization to bring them back as they heal, and help employees identify additional skills they possess to fulfill the needs of the organization. It has been found that injured employees recover faster if they are at work, making these programs a win-win situation

About Provident Protection Plus

At Provident Protection Plus, we have served the businesses and residents of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania for more than 65 years. We are a wholly-owned subsidiary of Provident Bank, the region’s premier banking institution, and we are prepared to offer you personal, business, employee benefits, and risk management solutions. To learn more about our coverage options, contact our specialists today at (888) 990-0526.