If you run a construction company in New Jersey, then you should know that worker’s compensation insurance is required by law within the state. If you want to reduce your risk of accident or injury, then you need to understand how the system works. This will allow you to better safeguard your company and employees against risk to protect not only their lives but also your assets.

Ensure your Job Classifications are Accurate

Code misclassifications can cause your premium to exponentially increase. In fact,  70% of companies overpay on their insurance premiums largely thanks to these misclassifications. By classifying your jobs appropriately, your insurer will be able to figure out your expenses or loss that relates to your general risk of being injured.

It’s important to know that there are hundreds of classification codes, and this makes it very easy to misclassify each job. That’s why it’s so important to work closely with your insurance agent. They will make sure your information is accurate and your coverage is sufficient without forcing you to overpay on premiums or miss out on vital coverage options. 

Create a Culture of Safety

The best and most effective way for you to significantly reduce your worker’s compensation claims is by creating a culture of safety. 

The easiest way to do this is by getting your team involved in the creation of your workplace safety program and providing them with solid training opportunities. After all, if you try to tackle everything alone, you won’t be able to keep up with safety demands and you won’t be efficient with your time management. Additionally, evaluating your program regularly will also help you to improve as you can become more aware of issues as they arise.

Educate your Team

When it comes to workplace safety, you need to make educating your team a top priority. If they’re aware of the dangers in their environment, they’ll be empowered to reduce risk factors where they can, which will improve your overall workplace safety. Help your team recognize their role when it comes to their responsibilities in preventing harm and maintaining workplace safety.

By making safety education part of your onboarding process for employees, you let them know just how much value you place on their safety. Additionally, you establish a base standard for your staff so that everyone is on the same page, and each person carries an equal amount of responsibility for maintaining a low-risk environment. And the lower your employee’s risk is, the lower your chances of receiving hefty worker’s compensation claims will be.

Focus on Accurate Reporting

Accurate documentation and reporting are vital in worker’s compensation cases. This helps ensure that claims are processed quickly and that you have all of your ducks in a row so that you can avoid penalty fees, lawsuits, and potential prosecution.

To have accurate reports, you need to make sure that your team is appropriately classified on your payroll. Office workers, for example, have significantly fewer safety risks than heavy equipment operators. By ensuring that your documentation is correct, you can avoid heftier premiums and fees and keep your more at-risk employees safer with appropriate coverage options.

Additionally, it is imperative that you record any communication that you have with your claims adjuster, and that you also take note of what your medical provider has said as well.

Work with Your Injured Employees

By developing a program for your injured employees, you can establish norms that will both help them get back to work and reduce the number of workdays you lose when your team member is absent due to an accident or injury.

A solid RTW (Return to Work) program should be centered around getting your team back to work in the fastest and safest way. This may require that you put your team on light duty or part-time shifts until they can recover. 

The main reason this will help you with your worker’s compensation costs is that it reduces the need for you to train and hire replacements and the amount of overtime you may pay team members who have to pick up the slack. 

Remember, if you can prevent a drop in morale or stop productivity from being impacted by giving your team peace of mind, then this will help them to ease back into their original position.

Key Takeaways

There are many things that you can do to try and lower both the amount of worker’s compensation claims you have to make and those you have to file for. By working to improve your safety standards and practices, you can simultaneously reduce your risk factors, improve employee morale, and reduce worker’s compensation claims which may significantly cut your insurance premiums in the long run. 

Speak with an insurance agent to learn more about your safety risks and how you can improve them today.