Report injuries early to keep costs down

When a workplace injury occurs, we want to help injured employees get what they need and back to work as soon as medically possible. This allows us to keep both direct and indirect costs down for your policyholders. Before we can help, however, the employer must notify us that an incident has occurred.

One of the most important steps in getting injured workers back on the job is simple: report the injury as soon as possible. We recommend reporting all injuries, even if they do not require medical attention. If there are no medical or indemnity costs, your policyholder’s experience modification factor (e-mod) will not be affected. However, minor injuries can alert you or your BrickStreet safety specialist to potential major issues that can be prevented.

Early reporting is beneficial in many ways: it can keep claim costs down and minimize the likelihood of attorney involvement. A study from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) found that delayed reporting can increase claim costs by up to 51 percent. The study also found that attorney involvement increased from 12.8 percent to 31.7 percent when reporting was delayed by four weeks or more.

In addition to avoided conflict and lower claim costs, early reporting can result in:

• Earlier accident investigation opportunities for the employer
• Faster delivery of benefits to the injured worker
• Enhanced return-to-work and recovery possibilities

Be sure to stress the importance of early reporting to your workers’ compensation clients. The workers’ compensation experts at BrickStreet can provide additional resources about reporting and the claims process.

Source: Business Insurance