Avoiding Workers Compensation Claims In Three Simple Steps

For employees, getting hurt on the job can cause all sorts of stressful situations, being that they have bills to pay and families to feed. For employers, there is an entirely different set of concerns when there is an injury on the job. However, it doesn’t have to be overly stressful for anyone involved! How can we help control an issue that can be a rather common occurrence? How can we keep this from being an expense burden on the company? Surprisingly, you can help ease the burden...even before you hire your employees!

Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind:

Pay Attention

While interviewing your prospective employees. Be aware of gaps between jobs and ask a lot of questions if more than one gap exists. While interviewing, listen more and talk less. Your goal is to collect as much pre-employment information as possible. Writing out your questions before interviews can help you be thorough and cover all your bases. By doing this, you are giving yourself a head start on knowing who is and who isn’t serious about the job. Consider doing background checks on prospective employees. While this isn’t always feasible for every company, doing so can unveil past fake worker’s comps claims or other fraud convictions. Also, think about doing drug testing before hiring and consider doing regular drug testing. Oftentimes, just including that on your list of requirements to become an employee can deter those who wouldn’t be a good fit for your company. Perhaps require physical capability testing. Employers may be able to use this as a tool to assess the prospective employee’s ability to perform their tasks safely and accurately.

Have A Plan

Have multiple programs in place to help teach safety behavior in the work place. Examples of this would be having employees know what your safety regulations are BEFORE they start working and/or having regular, informative safety meetings. Remind your employees of safety gear they must use. Have regular inspections of items or machinery to avoid potential hazardous situations. Include safety questions and disclaimers in your applications. Give applicants an opportunity to provide information about their safety history at previous jobs, including any awards of incentives they received for their safety in the workplace.

Safety Systems & Procedures

Have a plan if someone is injured. By putting a protocol in place before an injury happens, you are ensuring that all the rules are followed correctly. Designate someone to be in charge when an injury happens in the workplace and promptly recommend your predetermined medical provider. IMMEDIATELY get a description of the accident and injury from any witnesses and be sure to write their names down in case you have a need for them later on. Be sure to report it to HR right away.

Worker’s compensation can bring a sense of dread to every employer, but it doesn’t have to be that way! By being thorough in your hiring process, having safety measures in place and by having a plan when someone does get hurt, you are drastically minimizing the financial and stressful burdens that worker’s compensation can cause.

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