Approach Employee Benefits Like Workers Comp

By Melissa K. Robinson, Business Development, Oswald Companies

Managing workers' compensation effectively is a lot of work, but successful programs can pay dividends to your bottom line. Approaching your employee benefits program, like you do your workers compensation program, will have similar results.

For example: 

In the first six months of the year, your work comp claims have risen 25 percent. Puzzled, you decide to do a walk-through of your operations when suddenly you see an extension cord across the floor of a heavily traveled area.

What would you do?

1. Walk over the extension cord and continue your investigation?
2. Put up an orange cone, retrieve reflective tape, place the tape over the cord, post a “caution sign” to make people aware of the potential hazard.

So maybe this is over exaggerating (slightly). The point is if you see a sharp, sudden rise in claims and costs, you’re not going to simply change the level of insurance you purchase to keep your costs contained. You’ll find the root cause of the problem. After you find the problem, you’ll begin to take a proactive approach to prevent, or at least minimize, the risk of incurring future claims. Yet, most companies don’t use this same strategy to mitigate increases around the costs of their employee benefits.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Chronic diseases – such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and arthritis – are among the most common, costly and preventable of all health problems in the U.S.” These diseases are present in your workforce too! Chronic diseases – such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes – are among the most prevalent, costly, and preventable of all health problems. Leading a healthy lifestyle (avoiding tobacco use, being physically active, and eating well) greatly reduces a person’s risk for developing chronic disease. Access to high-quality and affordable prevention measures (including screening and appropriate follow-up) are essential steps in saving lives, reducing disability and lowering costs for medical care.

While health fairs create a “feel good” moment for employees once a year, employers need to take it to the next level. Having an integrated health management strategy is a key component to containing costs long term. Work towards a goal of keeping your healthy employees healthy. Stop the conveyor belt of new chronic conditions from effecting your population.

Safety programs have proven to be extremely beneficial to controlling workers compensation costs. Write down the steps you initially took to build your safety program to the level it is today. Success didn’t occur overnight, but it most likely is now part of your culture. Wouldn’t it make sense to approach the health of your employees the same way?