By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

What is a “near miss?” Webster defines it as: “A result that is nearly, but not quite, successful.” What does this mean to business? It simply means that a serious accident almost occurred.

Statistics tell us that for every 300-near misses there is one serious injury. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than threemillion recordable non-fatal injuries were reported in 2013. If we multiply each injury by 300, the result is 900-million near misses for 2013 alone.

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By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant
As a member of the Loss Control Department, I conduct safety tours within different types of facilities that conduct a wide variety of different daily operations. No matter the type of facility, there is one piece of equipment that is always present. This one piece of equipment, while only having a few moving parts, is responsible for a great deal of injuries and fatalities yearly. The piece of equipment I am speaking of is a simple ladder. Ladders, whether step form or extension (single), can be a valuable tool but also an unforgiving one if misused.

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By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

As companies strive to reach customer deadlines, growing production numbers, and do so with the smallest amount of overhead, it is understandable that some of the new ergonomic tools and resources have gone unutilized. While understandable, it is essential to understand how not having those tools in place not only affect your employees in a negative manner, but could also have a large impact on your daily operations.

Upon a review of MTMIC’s current loss run, it shows that of the top 50 lost time injuries, strains account for 46% of them (23 of 50). When looking at the same top 50 lost time injuries, strains accounted for 38% of the total dollars spent on those injuries. That is a sum of $8.6 million dollars. Of the 23 strain injuries, 39% are from the lower back (9 of 23). The sum of those 9 lower back injuries accounts for 50% of the total dollars spent on strains within that top 50 lost time injuries list. That is a staggering 4.0 million dollars spent on just 9 lower back claims.

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By: Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM, Loss Control Manager

Well, it’s that time of year again when MiOSHA released their top violations for general industry at the Michigan Safety Conference. This is also where we, as loss control consultants, focus our attention when we conduct our site safety surveys at your facilities. This year they broke down the top violations into both Heath Violations and Safety Violations, we will start with the Health Violations, which you may be less familiar with. If you are unsure if you have a health violation, you may ask your loss control consultant for more guidance on any of these violations noted below.

Listed below are the 2014 most recent general industry health violations cited by MiOSHA:

1. Part 602 – Asbestos Standards for Construction – 622 Citations Issued

• Not having an exposure assessment before starting renovation projects at your facility. Any building built before 1971 must have an asbestoses survey completed.
• Not having proper engineering controls and work practices when renovating.

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By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

I recently attended a conference where one of the speakers was John Flood, D.O. from Michigan Orthopedic Center in Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Flood is a physician we have utilized for Independent Medical Evaluations in the past. Dr. Flood presented some interesting facts concerning low back pain.

One fact is that 80% of the population will experience low back pain during their lifetime. Of that 80%, 15% will experience the pain for 2 weeks or more. Interestingly enough, experiencing low back pain “decreases” after age 65. The annual incidence of back pain has been unchanged over the past 30 years.

The good news is that 85% of this population will improve at 6 weeks; 90% improve at 12 weeks; 10% will have ongoing pain. However, the recurrence rate at one year is 25-80%. Permanent work disability affects about 5% of those treating for low back pain.

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By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

We are all aware of how and where potential “serious” injuries can occur in the workplace and hopefully actions are taken to avoid those situations. Things like weight limits on lifting, guarding on machinery, wearing safety glasses and other personal protection equipment. But what about those seemingly innocent actions and movements, that are almost second nature to a person? The following are actual claims handled by our office.

An employee stopped to get the mail and slipped on black ice and snow resulting in an ankle fracture in three places and a shattered heel. Surgery was performed with plates and screws; and the employee remains disabled from work.

An employee jumped off the bed of a truck resulting in a heel and foot fracture. The employee has been referred to a specialist to see if surgery is necessary. The foot fracture was not noticed on the initial diagnostic testing. The employee remains disabled from work.

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By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

Are you prepared for an emergency when it happens in your workplace? If your workplace has more than 10-employees, it is recommended you develop a written emergency action plan. At a minimum, your emergency action plan should include the following:

• A preferred method for reporting fires and other emergencies;
• An evacuation policy and procedure;
• Emergency escape procedures and route assignments such as floor plans, workplace maps and safe or refuge areas;
• Names, titles, departments and telephone numbers of people within and outside your company to contact for additional information or an explanation of their duties and responsibilities under the emergency plan.
• Procedures for employees who remain to perform or shut down critical plant operations, operate fire extinguishers, or perform other essential services that cannot be shut down for every emergency alarm before evacuating.

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By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

As the desire to minimize business costs grow, the availability to have employees designated to maintain housekeeping and cleanliness has diminished. Sadly, slip, trip, and fall hazards have provided a staggering number of 25,000 incidents daily. Since 2009, MTMIC has spent approximately $11.5 million on injuries resulting from a slip, trip, fall, and/or debris on the walking surface. General housekeeping and cleanliness plays a vital role in reducing the possibility of these types of injuries.

Injuries that can be attributed to slips, trips and falls can include lacerations, contusions, punctures, fractures, and strains. Strains from slips, trips, and falls accounted for $4.1 million of the $11.5 million spent on these types of injuries.

Some important aspects to remember when analyzing your workplace for any slip, trip and fall hazards is to:

• Keep electrical cords and air hoses out of traffic areas.
• Remove clutter (boxes, excessive raw material, trash, chemical containers) from traffic areas.
• Immediately clean up any spills
• Place a wet floor sign when area is cleaned using a mop.
• Make sure that traffic areas are properly lit as a person will trip over what they can’t see.
• Regularly inspect traffic areas for damages and hazards (chipped floor coverings, cracked and/or missing concrete, and uneven levels of walking surfaces.)
• Complete an audit of spill response and spill response measures.
• Complete walk-throughs of the work area focusing on general cleanliness.
• Mark any changes in walking surface elevations by either using a highly visible paint or tape that shows a hazard.

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By Donna Motley, Director of Claims

While scanning some publications, I came across an article that itemized “8 CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL W/C PROGRAM”. The original source of the article was Zurich American Insurance Company. Below we have modified the article to explain these characteristics and include ways MTMIC can help you with your programs. The characteristics were listed as follows:

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By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

Each year, millions of workers suffer workplace lacerations that could be prevented. From the use of improper tools, moving material unsafely, and inadequate personal protective equipment, employees suffer a great deal of avoidable injuries.

Through a review of the lacerations within MTMIC’s loss run history, the issue of laceration injuries is very apparent. Since 2009, 2,091, or 25% of the total 8,536 injury claims reported have been lacerations. Of those 2,091 laceration claims, 1,508, or 72%, were reported to have taken place on the hand (fingers, thumbs) of the injured employee.

Monetarily speaking, lacerations account for $4,401,735, or 10%, of the total $42,654,333 spent on workplace injuries by MTMIC since 2009. This percentage is only surpassed by fractures (12%) and strains (46%). As the numbers point to the fact that lacerations are not only one of the most reported workplace injuries, but also one of the most costly, it is vital to identify some measures to reduce the likelihood of continued lacerations.

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By Ruth Kiefer, ARM Loss Control Manager

Just this year, safety professionals from all over the country were asked by EHS Today “In what area would you most like to see an improvement in your safety program?” Listed below are the top ten answers professionals gave to this question. I’ve added a loss control view after each identified issue.

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ByRuth Kiefer, ARM
Loss Control Manager

I’d like to take a moment to explain the reason why my staff and I take safety very seriously when we survey your facilities. Our time doing this job has taught us one thing, that when things go wrong, they are quick and unforgiving. During our safety walkthroughs of your facilities, we try to encourage you to address certain hazards, we may sound like broken records at times, and there is a clear and fateful reason why we do. Injuries and deaths occur all the time in our industry. It is real. We see it first hand, we investigate it, we analyze the data, and we crunch the numbers. It may be just a story that you read, a highlight on the nightly news, but these are real people, that could have been your own employee. Or perhaps have been one of your employees.

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By Travis Halstead, Loss Control Consultant

As the warmer months are quickly approaching, many of your facilities will be directly affected by the increasing temperatures. As you do not have the ability to close your facility for the summer, it is essential that we try to identify the symptoms of heat related illnesses and ways to prevent them. Through proper training and some other proactive steps, there will be a better chance of reducing the possibility of your employees being exposed to heat stress.

By employees being exposed to extreme heat they are more apt to heat stress. While workers that are 65 years of age or older are at a greater risk of having heat stress, other individuals that are overweight, have heart disease or high blood pressure, or take medications may also be easily affected by extreme heat.

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Experience Modifications have been used for decades as a method to adjust employer’s workers’ compensation premiums based on their own loss experience. Good experience would earn a credit experience modification, an experience modification below 1.00. Loss experience higher than anticipated in the rate results in an experience modification greater than 1.00. This is all old news. So what is new? Three inquires in the last 6 months from our policyholders about their experience modifications. That by itself is not usual. What was unusual is that all three had a significant panic in their call. In each case, the insured’s largest customer was letting them know that future work was being discontinued because their experience modification was above 1.00. (more…)

By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

As the season of melting snow begins and the use of air movement fans is once again seen, it is essential to determine how the risk of trips and slips resulting in falls in the workplace can be eliminated. According to the 2009 statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 605 workers were killed and an estimated 212,760 workers were seriously injured by falls to the same or lower level (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Occupational fall injuries result in approximately $70 billion spent annually between medical and workers’ compensation costs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). From these staggering numbers the need to prevent this type of injury is high on many safety committee lists.

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By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

Flammable liquids are used in many different ways. They present unique hazards to the people that use them. Flammable liquids can cause a fire or explosion, and like many other substances, they can also cause serious health effects from overexposure.

Flammable liquids are liquids with a flash point of less than 100F. The flash point is the lowest temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapor to form a flammable mixture with air. On the NFPA diamond label, a fire hazard rating of three or four denotes a flammable liquid. Other labels used to identify flammable liquids are red with appropriate wording and they usually contain a fire symbol.

The vapors of a flammable liquid often present the most serious hazard. The vapors can easily ignite or explode. Flammable liquid vapors are heavier than air and may settle in low spots, or move a significant distance from the liquid itself.

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