F E AT U R E Contractors: You Can Do More to Motivate Workers’ Compensation Insurers to Compete for Your Business by Bob Tuman, CCR Consulting In my almost 40 years as a construction safety consultant, I worked with hundreds of contractors and performed several thousand workers’ compensation Loss Control Surveys. In completing the insurers’ Survey Report, I compared the newly insured’s ACORD and Supplemental Applications’ answers with my Survey findings, identifying and citing discrepancies. Surprisingly, I found numerous disconcerting discrepancies which, in some cases, resulted in cancellation for “material misrepresentation”. For example, numerous masonry and framing contractors with unfavorable loss experience and which did not have active scaffold safety and fall protection programs answered “Yes” to owning, building and using pipe scaffolding and to having trained and certified scaffold “Qualified and Competent Persons''- to build and inspect pipe scaffolding. Given the number of fatal scaffoldrelated accidents nationwide (see OSHA’s weekly fatality listings in OSHA.gov), during jobsite visits I made a point of thoroughly inspecting pipe scaffolding. I observed missing guardrail, missing toe board/kickboard (falling object protection), scaffold frames not pinned to each other or secured to structures, and numerous fall hazards. These contractors also reported that untrained employees erected and dismantled scaffolding and could not provide scaffold safety inspection reports. I left these jobsite visits scratching my head. Why did the underwriters agree to insure these contractors?
T H E
C O N T R A C T O R ’ S
History does tend to repeat itself. To illustrate worst case, a newly-insured façade restoration contractor with unfavorable loss experience, including falls off of pipe scaffolding, submitted a death claim in the second month of the new policy year when a 45 yearold employee fell off the unguarded end of pipe scaffolding and died the next day. The large loss investigation found no scaffold safety program, no documented scaffold inspections, and no scaffold-trained employees. Review of the Supplemental Application and accompanying notes revealed that the contractor stated that it owns and erects pipe scaffolding and has an active scaffold safety program in place, including scaffold Competent Person and employee scaffold safety awareness training. I rated these new insureds BELOW AVERAGE, often issuing “Critical” recommendations, a recommendation which requires corrective action(s) 10 days from issuance. This increased scrutiny did not sit well with the new insured and its agent, and both often resisted the increased focus. This forced underwriters to threaten cancellation for non-compliance. Bad feelings all around. So…how can you prevent this from happening and increase your chances of being rewarded for your efforts to keep employees safe and healthy? The answer: Provide insurers with documentation evidencing your efforts to control your injury and illness risks and exposures. Let’s go through a standard “Workers’ Compensation Supplemental Application” and
C O M P A S S
review documentation you can and should provide during the application process. Too busy? Ask your agent for help. She or he is an experienced and knowledgeable professional who has a wide array of resources.
Operations and Benefits Driver safety: Provide: 1. Signed and dated driver safety training records, training materials, driver safety guidelines, and drivers’ acknowledgements that they understand and will comply with driver safety guidelines. 2. Proof that you obtain and review new hires and current employees’ Department of Motor Vehicles’ (“DMV”) driving records and at least annually. 3. Proof of enrollment in a program similar to the California Employer Pull Notice Program. With drivers’ advance written consent, this program authorizes the DMV to notify you as soon as possible after your drivers’ violation. Early Return-to-Work: Provide: Your Early Return to Work (“ERTW”) program, including information on injured employees who returned to modified duty and, if it was helpful, a modified work schedule. Just go through your “loss run” and describe what you did after each accident, including corrective actions. Do you have a passive or proactive Early Return to Work program? A passive ERTW program generally relies on the temporarily-disabled employee’s medical provider(s) to release her or him to modified duty. A proactive ERTW program is one where management is in regular
O C T O B E R
2 0 2 1
17
