July 2014
RE:
Group-Rating Safety Accountability
Dear Employer:
Each year Ohio
employers have the opportunity to participate in BWC’s Group-Experience-Rating
Program or Group-Retrospective-Rating Program. While these programs are not
required, they do provide you with an opportunity to significantly reduce your
workers’ compensation premiums, while increasing your awareness of safety and
risk-management strategies.
Workplace safety
is an important component of these programs. To succeed in accident prevention,
we encourage you to use the many resources available to you. We believe a
group-rating program is a partnership that includes you and your employees,
your sponsoring organization or third-party administrator (TPA) and BWC. Each
has specific roles and responsibilities, all designed to assist in preventing
workplace accidents. This letter outlines the safety services expectations you
should have as an employer enrolled in a group-rating program.
The employer
will:
- Maintain
a safe workplace; - Attend
safety training to enhance workplace safety; - Use
BWC’s safety services as needed; - Fulfill
the required two-hour training requirement and provide proof of attendance to
sponsor for claim(s) - occurring within
the last year.
The certified
primary and affiliated sponsoring organizations will:
- Sponsor
eight hours of safety training (this may be done at one time or may be provided
incrementally as long as the total is at least eight hours); - Provide
information regarding safety resources to group members; - Possibly
assist an employer in achieving its safety needs; - Manage
employer fulfillment of the two-hour training requirement, where applicable - Publish
this letter to group members.
The TPA may:
- Assist
sponsoring organizations with fulfilling the group-rating safety requirements; - Assist
an employer with its safety needs; - Work
in conjunction with sponsors to develop safety training and deliver safety
resources; - Provide
resources for claims handling.
BWC will:
- Monitor
all group-rating safety activities to confirm requirements are met; - Remain
in communication with sponsoring organizations to provide recommendations for
fulfilling safety requirements; - Provide
safety training through Ohio’s Center for Occupational Safety & Health; - Offer
on-site safety consultation (hazard assessments, air and noise monitoring,
ergonomics evaluation, training) by a BWC safety professional; - Offer
publications and videos for safety program support; - Conduct
employer visits to confirm the employer is meeting group-rating requirements,
when appropriate. - The goal of this
collaborative effort is to make sure all your safety needs are met. Using these
resources will assist you in preventing accidents, reducing claims costs and
achieving the highest discounts possible. Below you’ll find contact information
for various resources.
NFIB/Ohio: www.nfib.com/oh
Careworks
Consultants, Inc.: www.careworksconsultants.com
Ohio BWC: https://www.bwc.ohio.gov/employer/services/safetyhygiene.asp,
[email protected]