In a survey of 3,500 employers, Zywave documented major concerns from businesses that returned the surveys, 59 percent were “very” or “somewhat concerned” about the ability contain costs in 2012.
Areas beyond cost control that were of concern included:
  • Keeping a limit on increasing exposures
  • Renewals
  • Rising fraud behaviors
  • Carrier stability
The Zywave’s most recent Workers' Compensation Safety Survey covered 20 lines of business, focusing primarily on:
  • Manufacturers (17 percent)
  • Health care and social assistance providers (15 percent)
  • Construction (13 percent). 
Responses came from a variety of staff positions in the companies:
  • Human resource personnel (36 percent)
  • Finance staff (19 percent)
  • CEOs or presidents (16 percent), 
Some 57 percent of those participating reported workers' compensation premiums under $50,000 annually.
Almost half (48 percent) reported a premium increase in the past year, while 28 percent reported a decrease and 24 percent said their premiums stayed the same.
Regarding staffing for safety:
  • 54 percent of the companies had a Safety Director
  • 29% had a risk manager
  • 48% had a safety committee, with most being empowered to engage policies and corrective actions.

As a business owner, it’s important to understand the popular measures taken by the respondents to help keep costs down:
  • Creating a safety-minded culture
  • Creating a written safety manual, that is reviewed annually
  • Starting a light-duty, or return to work, program.
  • Onsite accident evaluations
  • Loss prevention evaluations
  • Zero-accident goals
  • Having a dedicated claims manager
  • Safety committee efforts
  • Using a preferred occupational medicine facility
Modern Business Associates is an HR company that focuses on payroll and HR outsourcing. We routinely work with clients on benefits and HR management. As a Professional Payroll and HR outsource organization, our clients rely on us to help them effectively deal with these kinds of topics.