Addressing workers’ comp – the safe way

New WorkSafeMT http://www.worksafemt.com web video tells how the Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department saved thousands in workers’ comp and went from "worst to first" in workplace safety.

It’s no hidden fact that Montana’s workers’ compensation expenses are among the highest in the nation, and while Helena debates the best way to address the issue, employees of the Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department are sharing how they’re saving money and lives.

Six years ago, the Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department had the worst workplace safety record of any county in Montana. Today, after an employee grassroots effort to build a safety program and improve its track record, the department is one of the safest to work for in the state. The result has meant $55,000 saved annually on workers’ compensation insurance, two Governor’s Awards for Safety, and most importantly, injury rates have been cut in half.

"The Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department addressed the biggest factor of high workers’ compensation rates — safety. Their safety program is not only preventing injuries but saving taxpayers significant dollars," said George Kochman, program manager of WorkSafeMT, the organization dedicated to raising awareness of Montana’s poor workplace safety record and engaging employers and employees in changing it.

In a new short web video, called "From Worst to First," http://bit.ly/YTWorkSafeMT WorkSafeMT is sharing Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department’s example of how an employee-backed safety program is reducing injury rates and workers’ compensation insurance. The video tells the story, starting in 2005, when Curt Jevning and a handful of other road crew employees formed a safety committee with the support of County Road Supervisor David Ohnstad. Recognizing but not daunted by their low safety record and huge risks they face everyday on the job — 50-ton equipment, 300-degree oil, 480-volt electricity — the committee began by simply addressing attitudes, awareness and communication around safety.

They investigated every incident, created job safety analysis reports with every co-worker, established common-sense rules about lifting and working around equipment, and started regular safety meetings. Not reinventing the wheel, employees also attended conferences and seminars about safety and borrowed ideas from transportation departments in California, Washington and Oregon.

Fred Thomas of Western States Insurance is Ravalli County’s insurance and safety agent and has been watching the numbers (dollars and injuries) fall over the years. He calculates that days lost from injuries and the other associated costs of workplace injuries have been reduced ten-fold, since the inception of the road and bridge department’s safety committee and initiatives. Thomas also reports of the seven largest Montana counties (by population), Ravalli County has by far the lowest worker injury rate.

"The road and bridge department genuinely cares about safety every second on the job," Thomas said, "and the numbers show the difference."

Supervisor Ohnstad gives his employees credit, "We (management) provided whatever resources we could and whatever guidance we could, but largely it was an employee-initiated and employee-managed program that led to the significant improvement in the safety record. That’s why it’s successful."

Studies conducted by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry and the Labor Management Council on Workers’ Compensation reveal that safety is the single largest cost driver of workers’ compensation rates. Montana’s poor workplace safety record — with incident rates 47 percent higher than the national average — is the biggest contributing factor to Montana’s ranking as the most expensive state in the country to purchase workers’ compensation insurance. That, according to the 2010 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary, which ranks state workers’ compensation rates in the United States.

"The National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. calculates that if we reduce our injury rates to just the national average, Montana could reduce workers’ compensation system costs by more than $145 million," said Kochman.

To view the five-minute web video on the road and bridge department’s success story, visit http://www.worksafemt.com, where more information about improving Montana’s workplace safety record can be found as well as tools for creating safety programs.

WorkSafeMT was created as a public-private collaborative effort of business, labor and state agency leaders, health care providers, injured workers and workers’ compensation insurers with the purpose of addressing Montana’s poor work safety record and improving Montana’s stay at work/return to work system. Established in 2008, the group received funding from the 2009 legislature to conduct outreach across the state of Montana. For more on WorkSafeMT’s mission and vision, visit http://www.worksafemt.com.