5
Apr

Focusing on the “Forgotten” Aspects of Workers’ Comp

Most of the focus of various workers’ compensation studies are on the back-end of workers’ comp. Meaning the studies on medical costs, the litigation process, indemnity cost trends, loss adjustment and medical cost containment expense, prescribing practices, provider abuse and quite a few other topics. These are prototypical topics that RAND, CWCI, WCIRB, WCRI, and other organizations analyze.

But the front-end is something that we should always keep in mind and consider.

Front-end topics consist of areas such as worker safety, worker training, compliance with occupational health and safety regulations, corporate culture toward employees, claim incentives and other factors that can be the driver of injury claims in the first place.

Focus on the front-end is as important as ever now because funding for various federal health and safety programs is very much up in the air. While California has its own safety program (Cal-OSHA), it is likely that federal funding cuts in many areas will filter down and affect California programs.