University Business - July/August 2012 - (Page 75)

to discern safety risks. He says 60 percent to 70 percent of premiums on workers’ compensation insurance can be reduced with effective safety initiatives. Emery teaches the Environmental Health & Safety Academy course, which has trained 1,000 professionals at institutions throughout the U.S., including UC, University of Louisville (Ky.) and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Staff changes weren’t the order of the day at UC’s campuses, but the concept of sharing information between risk managers and safety officers was a matter of “breaking down the silo,” as Young puts it. Young also says some were worried compliance would be given short shrift, but that hasn’t happened. It helps when workers understand that they are important to meeting the mission of UC, he adds. “When EH&S views themselves in that role, they buy into it a bit better. What role does a janitor play? They make the educational setting a nice one so people want to learn there. If stuff wasn’t getting picked up, why would people want to go to that classroom? It’s not just a job.” How to get started Steps to synchronizing EH&S departments and risk managers can include renaming a department to reflect its new mission, educating safety managers and risk managers on the benefits of working together, analyzing injury data (or first obtaining it if it doesn’t exist in a coherent form), and presenting data to actuaries who can provide estimates on savings. It starts with determining where the greatest risk lies on campus. In the case of UC, the system first asked its actuary, Mark Priven, principal at Bickmore Risk Services, to provide a breakdown of the most common injuries within the system, at each campus. Young says UC’s 10 campuses and five medical centers then analyzed their workers’ compensation losses, and applied for grants that came out of the additional pool of money that was collected from each campus for Be Smart About Safety, a grant program that funds safety innovations on UC campuses. Confetti of UC says each campus originally paid $1 for every $100 of payroll to go toward workers’ compensation insurance. To fund Be Smart About Safety, each location paid an additional 15-cent safety assessment for each $100 of payroll. In 2004-05, the year before Be Smart About Safety was implemented, the accrual rate was 1.65 for every $100 of payroll. In that fiscal year, 8,053 workers’ compensation claims were filed. For the 2012-13 fiscal year, the systemwide accrual rate is $0.98 for every $100. Without including the safety program’s costs, the accrual rate would only be $0.85. For 2011-12, only 5,189 injuries inJury cost reduction success story: stAnford university top 5 stAnford eMployee injuries, by AverAge AnnuAl cost (2007-2011) Most coMMon worker injury: Musculoskeletal strain (ergonomic): $1,890,000 slip, trip, or fall: $727,000 cut, puncture, or scrape: $54,000 struck or injured by something: $112,000 striking against or stepping on: $50,000 2007: stanford university occupational Health center, a campusbased medical clinic, opens purpose: offer evaluation and treatment for work-related injuries and illnesses, work-related preventive medical services, and osHA- and departmentally mandated medical surveillance programs for university employees goal: prevent and address on-the-job injuries and get employees working again ergonomic strains (44% of all injuries, 56% of all costs) $4.5 million (2007) to less than $2 million (2011) incurred costs drop: 500 – same in 2007 and 2011 – but costs down because of much earlier intervention ApproxiMAte nuMber of clAiMs: universitybusiness.com July/August 2012 | 75 http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - July/August 2012

University Business - July/August 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
Ad Index
College Index
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Admissions
Models of Efficiency
Floor Plans
Consulting Guide
Limited Liability
Touch to Begin
A Sound Investment
Voluntary Retirement
Human Resources
Money Matters
What’s New
End Note

University Business - July/August 2012