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Lower Your Costs

Top 10 tips

Keep your workers' compensation costs under control by following these best practices.

1.	Emphasize early return to work Offer a temporary or lighter-duty job to an injured employee who cannot return right away to his or her regular job because of medical restrictions.
	In some cases, you may be able to return the employee to work within the state-prescribed waiting period and take advantage of the medical-only discount.
	If time off exceeds the waiting period, work with the treating doctor to minimize the payment of wage-loss benefits. Offer the employee a temporary position at a reduced wage if necessary. The waiting period—a period of days before wage-loss benefits kick in—is different in each state...
2.	Report injuries immediately If you don't have all the information right away, report what you have and call back later with the rest. If a claimed injury seems suspicious, call your SFM claims representative.
3.	Set an example with every claim How you treat one employee's claim influences how other employees expect they'll be treated if they are injured. It may also influence whether they think they'd need outside legal help.
4.	Analyze your losses Use loss history reports in CompOnline® to spot your problems and opportunities and see where to invest your loss control resources.
5.	Fire up your loss prevention program Your safety committee is the spark plug. Educate your employees, influence their behavior and evaluate their workspaces.
6.	Learn from the past When an injury happens, look for causes. Take steps to prevent injuries from recurring.
7.	Invest in education for your employees Make sure your employees are properly trained on safety procedures and spotting workplace hazards. Think of it as part of your injury prevention program.
8.	Develop a wellness program Encouraging healthy lifestyles can also raise productivity. Healthy employees are less likely to get injured. View SFM's wellness resources
9.	Make good employee practices a priority Stay aware of employee concerns. Deal with performance problems promptly and separately from workers' compensation issues.
10.	Use SFM's resources Resources on preventing injures and working with injured employees are available at no charge to you as an SFM policyholder in SFM's online Resource Catalog.

Related SFM resources

These resources, plus more on other topics, are available in SFM's Resource Catalog.