December 13, 2010

Use supervisors to help control costs

You and your supervisors are ambassadors of your safety culture. Educate them. Clear the way for supervisors to make injury prevention a dynamic aspect of how their departments get work done.

Supervisors are key because they:

• Know the operation and employees
• Have direct contact with employees
• Can observe work styles and behaviors
• Have the responsibility and authority to act

Encourage your supervisors to:

1. Communicate openly. Explain their responsibilities in safety. Encourage them to train on the hazards before employees begin a new task.
2. Watch for risky behavior and give feedback. For example, when a teacher stands on a chair to decorate his or her room, tell her to use a ladder instead. Or when a custodian is lifting a heavy or awkward load, demonstrate proper lifting techniques.
3. Look for unsafe work areas. Do a workplace analysis. This includes physical conditions such as wet floors or burned out light bulbs in dim areas.

The key is for supervisors to be proactive in looking for and eliminating hazards. For help with supervisor training and workplace analysis, contact your SFM Loss Prevention representative at (952) 838-4200 or (800) 937-1181, or email us.

School holiday parties
Is an injury considered work-related?

What if a faculty member is injured at a school-sponsored holiday activity? Does workers' compensation apply?

The test is whether the injured employee's attendance was voluntary. If it was, then workers' compensation probably doesn't apply.

State laws say, an employee who becomes injured in the "course and scope of employment" is entitled to workers' compensation benefits. So if an employee's participation in, say, a holiday event is not mandatory or an implied requirement of the job, then he is acting outside the "course and scope of employment," and an injury generally would not be considered work-related.

However, the best practice would be to report the claim to SFM and let your claims representative do a thorough investigation to determine compensability.

Have a workers' comp legal question? Call Lynn, Scharfenberg & Associates at (952) 838-4450 or (800) 937-1181, or email us.

Hazard Alert

Recently, a teacher fell from a ladder while leaning to hang holiday decorations from the ceiling that were out of reach. Not taking the time to correctly position the ladder to ensure a safe reach caused the fall and a broken wrist and bruised hip. This injury prevented the employee from working for a few days.

Soon teachers will be removing holiday decorations and similar accidents could occur. Prevent these kinds of injures by encouraging employees to work safely rather than quickly.

Advice from SFM's

Horseplay
Are employees' injuries covered by workers' comp?

By Beth Mandel, Esq.
SFM Senior Defense Counsel

States vary. The courts in Minnesota and Wisconsin—unlike Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota—have ruled consistently that injuries resulting from horseplay are indeed compensable. The main question in these cases is whether the injury resulted from conduct involving a risk or hazard of the work environment which the employer could reasonably have anticipated.

Learn more...