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How Safe Is Your Workplace?
Businesses can take simple steps to help prevent workplace injuries that cost an estimated $5.8 billion in insurance claims in 1997.
According to the Western Insurance Information Service, employers should ensure each employee receives a workplace safety manual, conduct regular safety inspections, communicate the importance of safety in the workplace and keep detailed records of all accidents.
Almost half of all disabling injuries involve the back or upper extremities. While computer-related injuries such as carpal tunnel account for only two percent of workers' comp claims, injuries can be expensive because they usually require time off from work.
Back injuries can be prevented through learning proper lifting techniques and perhaps by wearing back belts. Strain-related injuries can be prevented by providing adjustable work stations.
The amount an employer pays for workers' comp insurance is based on the risk of injury associated with the business, as well as previous injuries and their severity. Other factors that influence rates include cost of medical treatment, litigation costs and fraud.
Insurance Fraud Is Costly
Only tax evasion surpasses insurance fraud as the most costly white-collar crime in the U.S.
And contrary to what those committing it might think, the victims are not big insurance companies, but innocent consumers. The average policyholder may actually be paying an extra $200-$300 a year because of insurance fraud.
If you find that alarming, the Western Insurance Information Service asks you to consider that a growing number of Americans believe insurance claim padding is acceptable. A recent survey found that more than one in three people think it is all right to overstate their insurance claims to make up for premiums they have paid, compared with one-in-five four years ago.
But more fraud means insurance companies have to put more resources into fighting crime, spending three times as much in 1996 in 1992.
"As soon as we recognize fraudulent behavior, we hit it with a mallet," said a special investigation unit director for a major insurance company, comparing efforts to fight fraud with a game where players try to hit the heads of ground hogs which pop up through holes at random.
The industry is using more innovative means of combating insurance fraud, setting up investigative units, filing civil lawsuits and creating nationwide databases to track fraudulent activity, all of which have a cost that gets passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums.