The effectiveness of insurer-supported safety and health engineering controls in reducing workers' compensation claims and costs

Details

• Personal Author:
  Al Tarawneh IS ; Bertke SJ ; Bushnell PT ; Lampl MP ; Meyers, Alysha R. ; Robins DC ; Wurzelbacher, Steven J.
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a program in which a workers' compensation (WC) insurer provided matching funds to insured employers to implement safety/health engineering controls. METHODS: Pre- and post-intervention WC metrics were compiled for the employees designated as affected by the interventions within 468 employers for interventions occurring from 2003 to 2009. Poisson, two-part, and linear regression models with repeated measures were used to evaluate differences in pre- and post-data, controlling for time trends independent of the interventions. RESULTS: For affected employees, total WC claim frequency rates (both medical-only and lost-time claims) decreased 66%, lost-time WC claim frequency rates decreased 78%, WC paid cost per employee decreased 81%, and WC geometric mean paid claim cost decreased 30% post-intervention. Reductions varied by employer size, specific industry, and intervention type. CONCLUSIONS: The insurer-supported safety/health engineering control program was effective in reducing WC claims and costs for affected employees. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Engineering Ergonomics Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Workers' Compensation Engineering-controls Engineering Controls Exposure-levels Fall-protection Force Health-protection Injuries Injury-prevention Models Prevention Effectiveness Preventive-medicine Repetitive-work Risk-factors Safety Safety-measures Safety-practices Safety-programs

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  57
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045041
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2014 Dec; 57(12):1398-1412
• Contact Point Address:
  Steve Wurzelbacher, PhD, Industrywide Studies Branch, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1090 Tusculum Ave., MS R-14, Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998
• Email:
  srw3@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Wholesale and Retail Trade
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a6ee1767dab045ea710ecc64c89b5937c799d8ce9f335e1af694fbfffc51aa1d37a971ee341dcfd9c1028fb86dacf76cf9decfeff537606c45874ed08040cb14
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200586/cdc_200586_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 355.15 KB ]