Safety and Workers' Compensation Management

Let’s review: Working Safely in the Heat

OSHA offers guidance on how to keep workers cool and healthy whether they are exposed to indoor or outdoor heat hazards. Here’s more on this hot topic. 7/4/2018

Safety for Temporary Workers

OSHA offers a library of Temporary Worker Initiative Bulletins to explain the shared responsibility of staffing agencies and host employers to ensure temporary workers are provided with appropriate safety training and equipment.

Two new bulletins, hearing and respiratory protection, have been recently added to the bulletin library. 7/4/2018

Ohio Employers Receive $2.9 Million in Workplace Safety Grants

More than 100 Ohio employers will share more than $2.9 million in grants from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) to purchase equipment designed to substantially reduce or eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses.

The Safety Intervention Grant program matches an employer’s investment 3-to-1 up to a maximum of $40,000. Quarterly data reports and follow-up case studies measure the effectiveness of employers’ safety interventions and establish best practices for accident and injury prevention.

Learn more about the Safety Intervention Grant Program here. 7/4/2018

BWC Now Offers Email Notification of Online Invoice

You can now sign up to receive email notifications to let you know when your BWC invoice is available online. Private employers can request email notifications through the link on the My Policy page. Self-insuring employers can request email notifications through Request eNotices.

Signing up for email notifications and opting out of receiving paper invoices is a requirement to be eligible for the 1-percent Go-green rebate (capped at $2,000). For private employers, this will be a requirement for true up of the July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019 policy year.

If you have any questions, please call BWC’s Customer Contact Center at (800) 644-6292. 6/26/2018

BWC’s Next Employer Webinar is June 28

Join BWC on Thursday, June 28 at 11:30 a.m. for its next employer webinar. This month, the BWC will cover its new Policy Activity Rebate Program, the Billion Back Rebate, policy renewal and coverage limits, program reminders and the monthly safety tip. Webinars last approximately 20 minutes each.

Register here to attend the webinar virtually or here to visit your local claims office and view the webinar with BWC staff. 6/15/2018

New OSHA Web Page Provides Safety Information on Workplace Chemicals

OSHA’s new Occupational Chemical Database compiles information from several government agencies and organizations into one online resource.

The web page includes chemical identification and physical properties, permissible exposure limits (PELs), and sampling information. Chemicals can be searched by name or identification number, or grouped by PEL, carcinogenic level, or whether they pose an immediate threat when inhaled. 6/18/2018

Say Hello to Workers’ Compensation Management Your Way!

The OMA built its workers’ compensation services to the specifications of Ohio’s manufacturers, our only constituents. And members give us high marks for our service.

• Your OMA account manager is your single point of contact for everything workers’ comp.
• Your company’s data is online on your workers’ compensation dashboard.
• There is no extra fee ever for Industrial Commission hearing representation. Representation is by best-in-class law firms of Dinsmore, Roetzel, and Morrow Meyer among others.
• No charge monthly safety webinars make it easy to keep a focus on safety and comply with BWC-mandated training when applicable.

We understand what both your Human Resources Manager and your CFO require in claims management and cost control.

If you’re not already buying your workers’ compensation management services from OMA, you can easily request a proposal here. 6/14/2018

BWC Introduces New Small Employer Program for Savings and Safety

The Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has introduced a new program that is intended to help small employers lower their workers’ comp premiums and increase worker health and safety.

Private employers can now sign up for the new Policy Activity Rebate (PAR) program.

Under the program, employers earn credits for completing activities designed to improve workplace safety practices and encourage attentive management of their workers’ comp policies. Employers receive a 50% premium rebate, up to $2,000. To be eligible for the rebate, they must select from among 33 available activities and earn 11 credits during the policy year that begins July 1.

Employers of any size can participate but must have an Experience Modifier of at least 1.0, a measurement of an employer’s risk compared to the average risk of like employers. (If you buy OMA workers’ comp services, you can look up your EM on the WCS dashboard.)

Also, employers participating in any of these programs cannot participate in the PAR program: Group-experience rating; group-retrospective rating; individual-retrospective rating; claim cost deductible; 100-percent EM capping; and One Claim Program.

According to Brian Jackson, Managing Director, OMA Workers’ Compensation Services, the PAR program could benefit small employers but generally will not outperform group programs. Contact him if you have questions about what’s best for your company. 6/5/2018

OSHA’s Revised Tracking Regulation at OMB for Review

From OMA Connections Partner Jackson Lewis: “OSHA is a step closer to publishing a proposed rule revising the Obama-era regulation, Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses. OSHA’s proposal has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under Executive Order 12866. This is the final internal review before the proposal gets published in the Federal Register and signals that OSHA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking may be out by late summer.

“It is anticipated that the proposed regulation will eliminate the requirement that large establishments, those with 250 or more employees, electronically submit the establishment’s OSHA 300 Log and 301 Forms annually and only be required to submit the 300A Form on an annual basis. …

“Employers should follow this rulemaking carefully as it is likely to change the requirements for the electronic submission of recordkeeping forms. Currently, all employers covered by the rule are required to submit their 2017 300A Form electronically by July 1, 2018.”

Read more from Jackson Lewis here. 6/1/2018

June 12 is National Forklift Safety Day

National Forklift Safety Day, sponsored by the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), will be recognized on June 12 in Washington, D.C., and workplaces nationwide.

Visit OSHA’s forklift web page. And contact the BWC Division of Safety & Hygiene for more training resources. 6/5/2018