Workers' Comp insurance is a huge expense for most industrial employers and many are looking to reduce the high premiums they pay. As you know, Workers' Compensation is a necessary benefit to provide for employees when accidents do occur and employees suffer serious injuries. But there are ways you can reduce the number of injury claims you have and lower your policy premiums — and at the same time keep your workers happy, healthy, and even attract new talent.

Coverage is required in all states, with varying rates, and helps with medical bills, payment for lost work time, and expenses for workers with permanent injuries. These are the factors that affect your insurance premiums:

• State requirements
• Number of employees
• Type of work
• Payroll
• Risk exposure
• Industry

Experience Modification Rate
Most employers who have annual premiums in excess of $3,000 receive an Experience Modification Rate. And this rate affects your premiums.

The experience modifier adjusts workers compensation insurance premiums for a particular employer based on a comparison of past losses of that employer to what is calculated to be "average" losses of other employers in that state in the same business, adjusted for size.

Since the rate determines your workers' comp premium, it directly affects your bottom line — the higher your rate, the more money you pay for insurance.

If your industrial company has a lot of claims, your EMR could be significantly higher than the average for your industry. You will be paying a much higher workers' comp insurance premium payment. 

Don't Forget the Indirect Costs
Most CFOs and financial managers understand that the high premiums are a burden, but may not realize the indirect costs they are paying for worker injuries — training replacements, adjusting work schedules, investigating accidents and implementing corrective measures. Productivity may be lost, repairs made on damaged equipment, and you may have to deal with lower morale and absenteeism.

*Check out OSHA's calculator to see the direct and indirect costs to your business. 

How Can I Reduce My Workers' Compensation Premiums?
Imagine reducing or eliminating 70% of your insurance claims? 

Nearly 70% of all workplace injuries are musculoskeletal — strains and sprains to arms, legs, necks, and backs — that result in MSDs. While these injuries can cause a lot of pain, they can result in medical claims. 

Most industrial companies have nothing in place to prevent or triage these MSDs, so when a worker is dealing with this pain they are usually forwarded on to a nursing hotline, nearby clinic, or to their doctor. Hotlines are not prepared for MSDs and most RNs recommend a medical consultation. 

Whenever you have a worker go to the ER, urgent care, or primary care physician, a medical claim is created. And, remember, each claim counts against your Experience Modification Rate. And the more claims, the higher your premium. 

Why not have a filter in place, a protection against claims, that allows your team to manage MSDs without sending people to medical care and rehab? You don’t have to change or remove your nurse line or Occ Health partner. Simply add Healthy Roster right before the expensive layers kick in.

How Does Healthy Roster Prevent Claims?
Ok, so what is Healthy Roster? How does it work? Well, we start with an injury kiosk – which is an iPad stand that enables a manager to take someone with a workplace injury through a telehealth call with one of our industrial athletic trainers. With 24/7 access, you can add a triage kiosk to any and every location and shift.

We also do virtual ergonomic reviews to ensure your employees are lifting, bending and doing their job in a way that helps to avoid unnecessary injuries. We back up our ergo checks with weekly and quarterly content for both your safety managers and your employees. This content is delivered through our mobile app or via the kiosk or web.

And finally, we keep in contact with your employees for ongoing wellness checks. How are they feeling? Is there any pain our ATs can help with? By keeping in touch with your employees, we help catch issues before they become workplace injuries!

Fewer Claims Means You Can Reduce Your Workers' Comp Costs
Keep your Experience Modification rate at or below the industry average and you'll pay less in premiums. And you'll keep your workforce happier and healthier. You'll attract new employees when they see they have access to industrial athletic trainers and their wealth of knowledge. Maintain or even improve productivity across the board by eliminating those nagging aches and pains that affect work quality, schedules, absenteeism, and overtime. 

Talk to Healthy Roster today to start saving on your workers' compensation costs!