By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

The term “robot” readily evokes a mental image to most people. Depending on your age, it could be R2D2 from the Star Wars movies, the Mars Land Rover, or you may have iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner. In 1954, George Devol developed the first programmable Robot. It weighed two tons and was controlled by a program on a magnetic drum. Nowadays, the number and type of robots are changing rapidly.

Industrial robots are designed to move materials, as well as perform a variety of programmed tasks in manufacturing and production settings. They are often used to perform duties that are dangerous or unsuitable for human workers, such as repetitious work that causes boredom and could lead to injuries because of the inattentiveness of the worker.

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SHA is not accepting electronic submissions of injury and illness logs at this time. According to their website, they are extending the July 1, 2017 date by which certain employers are required to electronically submit the information from their completed 2016 Form 300A. Updates will be posted to the following OSHA webpage when they are available.

https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/index.html

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Once again MTMIC will be sending out a customer survey to gather your input on how we are doing. If you receive an email from sales@mtmic.com/blog for a Survey Monkey survery, please complete it so that we can continue to improve our service. Should you have any questions, please contact Patty Allen at (248) 725-0013.

Our Annual Meeting will be taking place on October 19th, 2017 at The Inn at St. Johns in Plymouth, Michigan.

Normally, each month, I give you a technical critique on some Workers’ Comp issue or provide an update on company financials. Often, our members ask me about an update on the Members’ Dividend Program. Since the Member’s dividends were delivered in March and we’re still early in the year to give any financial predictions of 2017, I thought I might use this time to tell you about my upcoming four-year anniversary as President of MTM.

At the annual meeting, I often start out by telling you about the amazing MTM staff. Our employees at MTM, on average, have been with the company for over 20 years. In fact, a statement I often use at the annual meeting is, in 2017, we had no new hires, 2016, no new hires, 2015, no new hires, 2014, no new hires, and I was the last new hire when Gary Wood retired in 2013. Pretty amazing to say that we have had no staff turnover in four years. And the last staff turnovers we have had have all been because of retirements. This staff stability means that you have been dealing with Glenda for over 35 years, you’ve been dealing with Chris for 25 years, you’ve been working with Donna for 25 years. And I could go on. You know the managers and staff members of MTM very well.

The same stability applies to the MTM Board. Eight of our 10 Board members have 1been with the company for 15 years or more. A few of them have over 25 years of experience with MTM. The Board has been committed to member needs and yet gives the insurance professionals latitude to do what we do best. I am appreciative at every meeting for the guidance they provide the MTM management team.

There’s no surprise that with the vision of the Board and the insurance expertise of staff that the results have been remarkable. In my four years, we’ve seen the member count increase by 24%. We’ve seen the financial stability, as measured by surplus, increase 149%. At the same time we increased the member surplus of the company, we have returned $9.5 million in owner dividends. These outstanding results are possible because of the three-legged stool: loyal membership, a good Board, and a technically-competent staff.

On the personal side, one of the reasons I have been able to focus on company issues is that family issues have been minor and rare. My wife Patty has been tolerant of me for 42 years. What most people do not know is that not only did Patty and I date through college, but she also chased me in the kindergarten playground. Of course, she was much bigger than I was and, therefore, could out run me. But I have pictures of this event and can say in a small town of Boring, Oregon, she did not select me, because of any wonderful attributes, but because in a tiny town – I was probably a high rating “pick”. The Karlen family includes my son who is very tall, very blonde, and very smart. Therefore, I have no genetic ties to him whatsoever. He is an electrical engineer/patent attorney in Seattle and London. Ten years behind Little John is my daughter, Laura. She just graduated from Western Michigan in Integrated Supply Management and will soon be off the family payroll as she starts her job with Rolls-Royce.

So, you have a little bit of an update on the company results over the last four years and a little more of a picture of my family. I have to say it has been a fun and quick-paced four years for me at MTM. I expect much like the recent past, for the next few years the pace will stay the same (or even speed up) and that the challenges will likely be similar.

I am looking forward to a couple long summer weekends and, in the meantime, will greatly enjoy visiting and touring your shops.

Thursday, October 19th

The Inn at St. Johns
Plymouth Michigan

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

What is entailed in processing a Workers’ Compensation injury claim? Once the claim form is submitted and set up in our system, it is more than just processing and paying the medical bills. In most cases the injured worker is treating with the employer’s Occupational Clinic. It is the Claims Adjusters’ responsibility to assure the employee is receiving proper treatment, with the appropriate medical personnel; and if necessary, have treatment of the injured worker transferred to a physician specializing in said injury. Orthopedic physicians specialize – back, shoulder, knee, foot, elbow, hands, etc. A mucular condition would be referred to a Physiatrist.
We monitor each and every doctor appointment the employee attends. If an appointment is missed or rescheduled, we want to know why. We follow up for the necessary disability slip the injured is required to submit to their employer.

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With spring weather finally arriving, many companies are now hiring summer interns or have youth employment. There are some tricky pieces to young employment that are worth sharing with you. First be advised or warned that youth employment rules are strictly enforced. Regulators take great care of providing an extra layer of protection for employees under 18 years old. Let me cover some of the restrictions that apply to employees under 18. The law is clear about occupational duties that are restricted based on age. Employees under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in ANY hazardous or injurious occupation. The regulations then specify some of the items included in their hazardous or injurious tasks: driving, working power equipment, exposure to hazardous substances or chemicals, driving hoisting apparatus such as lift trucks or Bobcats, running any power driven metal forming, punching, or shearing machines, running circular saws or band saws or involvement in any building maintenance such as roofing or painting.

There is a narrow exception of some of the above tasks. The exceptions are permitted in order for students to be enrolled in state approved career or technical education training or apprentice programs. They must be specifically approved and documented.

The Michigan child labor laws also require adult supervision for any employee under 18 years of age. These rules become even more strict if the employee is under the age of 16. The good news for the summer is that the many rules dealing with limited hours during the school year are not a factor. But just a red flag for the rest of the year, the child labor laws are very specific to make sure that the hours are limited and do not infringe upon youth school activities.

At the beginning of this topic I mentioned regulator enforcement is aggressive and punishment for violations is significant and severe. A first violation is imprisonment for one year, and a fine of $2,000. A second violation is a $10,000 fine and 10 years of imprisonment. The Department of Labor takes seriously their role in requiring safe environment for employees under the age of 18.

Even with these restrictions, student interns are a helpful resource and a benefit for both the company and the youth employee. At MTM we use interns to help us with mass mailings, filing, and other office duties. The youth gets to build some experience for their first resume and the company gets some tasks taken care of that are difficult to accomplish during the regular business day. I expect that our member shops have seen the same rewards for both their company and for their kids that are involved.

If you run across a question on this, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can go over it in more detail with you. The law is four pages, single-spaced, we are happy to share that with you for those that are interested. Until next month, I hope you enjoy the spring weather and we will get ready for the warm days just around the corner.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Have you ever watched people as they walk down a street, or walk through the mall, or sit in a waiting room? Almost everyone has their cell phone in their hand. Notice the position of their head while they stare at the phone screen. Their head is bent forward! This position causes a strain to the muscles and tendons in the neck and shoulders; and possibly the low back. This position changes the natural curvature of your neck. Your neck moves forward, your shoulders round forward or lift up toward your ears and your neck and shoulder muscles spasm (contract). Neck muscles are designed to support the weight of your head, about 10 – 12 pounds. According to the Cleveland Clinic, research shows that for every inch you drop your head forward, you double the load on those muscles. Looking down with your chin to your chest can put approximately 60 pounds of force on your neck. Dr. Dean Fishman, a Chiropractor in Plantation, Florida has coined this condition, this repeated stress injury, as: Text Neck.

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Scott Smith, MPT – Sr. Regional Director ATI Physical Therapy

Scott Smith from ATI Physical Therapy will be one of our featured speakers at the October 19th Annual Meeting. Scott graduated from the University of Michigan – Flint with a Masters of Physical Therapy in 1999. He is the Sr. Regional Director for ATI Physical Therapy. Scott has worked with a wide range of patient populations including the industrial athlete and work comp populations with the goal of returning the injured worker back to an optimal level of function. He has taken several continuing education courses to further gain knowledge on orthopedic pathologies and sports medicine. His clinical experience includes treating patients for pre and post-operative care, musculoskeletal pain, work hardening, and postural/body mechanics education for further prevention of injury. In his free time, Scott enjoys tennis, golf, mountain biking, and participating in youth sports coaching.

Member Dividend Update

At the February MTM Board Meeting, the Board approved a $3.5M member dividend and instructed management/staff to implement the Board Resolution. Within two weeks of the Board meeting, member checks were cut. MTM staff has now completed two weeks of member dividend deliveries. While some of the dividends were mailed, we prefer to hand deliver as many as possible. The reason for this was to thank our members in person for their support of MTM. In the last two weeks, I have personally made 50 deliveries to members. I’ve been to places like Sterling Heights, Warren, Plymouth, Iron Mountain, Ludington, Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Jackson and Bad Axe. This is NOT a complete list of all the towns/cities I have visited.

I can report that no member was unhappy to see me. All of our member’s shops are busy, but not so busy as to say hello, accept a member check and take a picture. Attached are a few of the member pictures taken these last two weeks.

The Board, management, and staff continue to work hard to make these member dividends possible in the future. This is the third consecutive year for member dividends. And over the last three years, a total of $9.5 million has been returned to MTM members. We still have about two weeks left in the delivery cycle, so if you haven’t seen us, you are about to and we are looking forward to it.

Various happy clients are shown receiving their annual dividend checks…

By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

As companies attempt to reduce costs, one particular item that I have been seeing a great deal of is companies having their own drivers. These drivers provide companies with the ability to pick up and deliver their product, get product from one location to the next, or to send products to secondary operations. While convenient, it is vital to point out that the simple roadway hazards that most commuting drivers only face for a short period of time in a day, are constant hazards that professional drivers face all day.

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The February MTM Finance Committee and Board Meetings are the most important company meetings of the year. Well, with over 80 MTM members present, the October Member’s Meeting is very educational and fun too. However the member dollars are reviewed in February. Last month the Finance Committee and Board reviewed the year-end results including: loss reserves, loss trends, claims account funding, independent actuarial report, and management recommendation to determine if a member dividend is warranted.

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By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

There are a lot of advantages to have your Workers’ Compensation insurance with MTMIC, but I want to point out a few that are “hidden” advantages.

As mentioned before, our Claims staff has extensive years of experience handling Workers’ Compensation claims. I would like to say we have “seen it all”, but every once in a while a situation will occur that is a “first”, even for us. Most of the Claims staff has extensive years of service AT MTM. For many, many years our core business focused on the manufacturing and tooling industry. And because of our company’s longevity in this industry, we have some insureds that have been with us since the early days. You might wonder, where is the advantage in that? Well, the first thing we do when a claim is received in our office, is check to see whether or not the injured worker is already in our claims system. If an employee incurred an injury between 1976 and 2017, and a claim was submitted, we have record of it in our system. We ask injured workers if they sustained any previous work injuries, and if they say no, but we find them in our system, that’s a red flag that may raise the question “what are they trying to hide”? We sometimes see patterns forming – say, an injury every hunting season. Or recurrent injury to the same body part which might mean the job site or process should be adjusted.

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One of the key benefits of being an MTM member is the owner dividend. Management is working hard at putting the 2016 financial numbers together. MTM is a state insurance regulated business. All of our numbers are required to be analyzed by an outside actuary and then submitted to the State of Michigan Insurance Department. As part of the state review, an outside actuary must look at each loss year and determine the adequacy of monies set aside to pay the losses for that year. A similar detailed review of company investments is done and included in the 2016 financials. These steps slow the process from a normal, generally accepted accounting principles process.

Once this process is completed about February 1st, a management dividend recommendation goes to the MTM Finance Committee. The MTM Finance Committee meets the first week of February and includes:

• Jack Accardo, Chairman, Haller International Technologies
• Jerry Decker, Precision Boring Company
• Gerd Walter, Creative Automation
• Gary Sievert, Wellington Industries
• Teena Kowolski, Loc Performance Products

The Finance Committee will review, debate, and amend management’s recommendation before sending their input to the full MTMIC Board. The MTMIC Board meets on February 16th, and will look at management’s recommendation and amendments made by the Finance Committee. The full Board is made up of:

• Kurt Heuser, Chairman, Bokum Tool Company
• Joe Keppler, Vice Chairman, HTI Cybernetics
• Jack Accardo, Haller International Technologies
• Bobby Cox, Acorn Stamping Company
• Jerry Decker, Precision Boring Company
• Bradley Lawton, Star Cutter Company
• John Moll, Gemini Group
• Doug Mack, retired shop owner
• Richard Smith, Wolverine Bronze Company
• Karen Schluckebier, Rogers Group

The full Board will make the final decisions regarding the MTM member dividend. Interestingly, please note that all voting members are active MTM insureds, with one exception. Our members’ best interest is achieved because members are making the decision. We will anxiously wait to give you updated information after the February Board meeting and then delivering checks in March.

At this time I like to thank these Board and Committee Members for their input and hard work. Management and staff are very capable insurance technicians, however, having the Board and Committee direction keeps us on track and focused.I will update you further on this important topic.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Does your employee know what to do if they sustain a work related injury? Whether your employee is a new hire or has worked at your facility for many years, the procedure is the same. All employees should be briefed upon hire of the steps to be taken should a work injury occur. Employees should be reminded periodically, no less than annually, of proper procedures or any changes in said procedures, should an injury occur. All employees, not just the injured person, play a part in work safety. All employees should be diligent in keeping the work environment clean; clean up or report oil spills, report unsafe practices, report faulty equipment and safety hazards. A co-worker may be a witness to an injury.

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By Ruth Kiefer, Loss Control Manager, MSc, ARM

As you know one of the nerve-racking issues of keeping up with the MIOSHA safety standards is when a compliance officer comes to visit and puts your safety efforts to the test. Their visits can be spurred by an employee complaint, your industry code being on their strategic plan, or a visit that results from a severe injury. A recent visit in December of 2016, to a manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti, resulted in $265,600 in fines. The MIOSHA inspector found eight serious, six repeat serious, and three other-than-serious safety violations that were noted during the visit. The safety standards that were in violation were the same things that were on our April’s edition of MIOSHA’s top 10 safety violations. The list of standards found in violation included:

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