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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The Inn at St. Johns, the site of our Annual Meeting which is held in October

By
– Megan Brown, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
– Patty Allen, Sales & Marketing Assistant

• In need of Client Portal access for billing, claims, and safety info? Please contact Marketing for a user id and password:  sales@mtmic.com/blog.
• In need of more Claim Packets? Please contact Marketing to have them sent out: sales@mtmic.com/blog.
• In need of additional sets of labor law posters? Contact Patty Allen in Marketing with your request: patricia.allen@mtmic.com/blog.
• Is need of adding additional recipients to receive the monthly Newsletter? Contact Marketing to have them added: sales@mtmic.com/blog.
• Stay tuned in the upcoming months for information about our Annual Luncheon held in October.

Well 2016 just wrapped up. Early indications are that 2016 will be a good loss year for MTM members.

As a refresher, 2014 was a good loss year. At the February 2015 Board of Directors meeting the Board reviewed the December 31, 2014 financial results. The Board then declared a member dividend of $2.5 million. At the end of 2015, we again had a good loss year. And at the February 2016 Board meeting, the Board approved a $3.5 million member dividend.

In January our CFO will put together the 2016 numbers and will also get the loss trend analysis from our independent outside actuary. With all of this data, the MTM management team will prepare MTM year-end financials for presentation to the MTM Board on February 16th. Included in that presentation will be member dividend data and options for the Board to consider and ultimately decide. MTM members are well represented by the Board since all Board members are MTM insureds.

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By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

I was recently contacted by one of our customers with a concern that I do not believe many of us think of. This company was concerned whether or not they had the right form of clamp at the tool end of their air hose. This particular company had the worm-drive style hose clamp holding their quick connect air fittings onto the air hose. The worm drive style hose clamp is the clamp that is tightened by using a flat head screw driver or socket to turn a screw that tightens the clamp. This is a common practice among the vast majority of companies that I visit. Upon the correspondence regarding their concerns, the MTMIC Loss Control team spoke of prior MIOSHA inspections and any knowledge of standards regarding hose clamps for air hoses. Through this communication it was found that a prior federal OSHA inspection from 2013 did cite a facility for the wrong type of air hose clamps. In this situation the facility was found to have worm-driven hose clamps that connected their tools to the air hose. The Enforcement Officer found this to be a hazard, as if the hose clamp was to malfunction or loosen, then the employees would be exposed to the whipping action of the air hose. This was cited under the federal OSHA rule 29 CFR 1910.243(b)(2). That rule states that hose and hose connections used for conducting compressed air to utilization equipment shall be designed for the pressure and service to which they are subjected. The company in this particular inspection was cited for $5,500 for 4 instances of this violation.

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In this newsletter you will see pictures of the MTM annual members meeting. This meeting was held October 19th at the Inn of St. John’s in Plymouth. There were over 80 members in attendance. It was the largest MTM meeting ever. At the meeting, attendees had a great meal and two short presentations. One of the presentations was from two of our nurse case managers on how they coordinate medical care for an injured worker, get the worker back to work and also save money for the employer. The second speaker was the president of an outside insurance rating organization, Demotech. He gave a brief description on insurance company rating and why it’s done. He then went on to inform the group of the MTM “A” financial rating. He went into some detail on why this rating of MTM’s financial finances was well deserved.

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Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims 

Owning and operating a business is multi-faceted. Having Workers’ Compensation insurance, required by law, is one of those many facets. Hopefully, most employers rarely have to utilize their Workers’ Compensation insurance. BUT, should an employee be injured in the course of employment, you, as the employer need to be prepared.

So how far does the employer’s responsibility reach? The employer is responsible for providing a safe working environment, for training employees in the proper way to perform their job, for proper machine and facility maintenance and for properly handling a work related injury, should one occur. An employee injury is costly in many ways. An injured employee is affected professionally and socially. The employer’s production and work product is affected. A work injury has a financial impact on everyone involved. The employer has a vested interest in making the employee be the best he/she can be, as the employer will reap the rewards.

Don’t ignore the signs. If a Supervisor walks past a work station and notices an employee stretching their back, rubbing their shoulder or playing “windmill” with their arms, that should be the employers first clue that something may not be right. Ignoring “signs” rarely benefits the employer. It is doubtful the situation will resolve itself or just “go away”. On the contrary, what usually happens is the employee will start treating with their primary care physician for the medical condition. Then when it starts to cost the employee a lot of money, or the condition does not resolve, or someone tells them they should file a Workers’ Compensation claim, the employee will bring the situation to the attention of the employer. By this time, treatment has been rendered and we would have to obtain all those medical records; suspicion overshadows the entire claim because it is being reported so late and after the employee has received treatment; and we will not allow treatment until the matter has been investigated. This delay in treatment will in turn delay the employee’s recovery and impact work product and production.

While we are not suggesting that a Supervisor “suggest” to an employee that the employee has a work injury, a simple “Is everything o.k.? I noticed you rubbing your shoulder” can go a long way. At that point the employee may admit that he has an injury that occurred outside of work (make note in the personnel file if that is the case); the employee may alert the employer to a machine set up or situation that could maybe be changed to be more ergonomic; and the employee may come away feeling their employer “cares”.

If the employee advises that something he did at work has caused an injury, the employee should be immediately sent to the clinic. Remember, it is not up to the employee to decide whether or not they “want” to go to the clinic if they have reported a work injury. Whether the employee alleges nothing is wrong, an injury occurred outside of work (i.e. they just slept wrong) or there was a work incident, the Supervisor should follow up with the employee later that day, the next day and the next week, and ask if everything is o.k. or if they are having any other issues. Again, ignoring these situations do not make them go away – instead, they tend to “fester”.

As an employer, you should review all employee injuries, your injury logs and/or loss runs to determine how many and what kind of injuries are occurring and where they occur. Then review to see if there are any changes that could be made so injuries do not continue. Your Loss Control Consultant can be a tremendous help in this regard. Remember, we are a team, all working toward the same goal – a safe and productive work environment! We all benefit!

Audit Reviews

Large audit additional premium due – scary words. Each workers’ compensation policy is written with estimated payrolls for the upcoming year. When the policy expires, an audit is completed to get actual payroll. We then calculate the actual premium from the audit payroll, and subtract member payments during the year. The end result is that we have an audit additional due from our member or premium refund due back to our member. More than 97% of the time, this system works out well. The estimated payroll is close to actual and we end up with a small additional premium that is no burden to our member, or we end up with a small return where MTMIC sends a check back to our member. This high success rate does not mean that the other 3% goes easy. The large additional audit dollars affects the budget and causes stress to our member. It also causes discomfort at MTMIC. We do not like to do things that aggravate our members. Remember, most of our members have been with us for years, and that personal relationship and trust is greatly valued by our member and by the MTMIC staff.

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By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

An injury occurs at your facility. The incident is reported through the proper channels – this could be a report to the immediate Supervisor, Plant Manager, Safety Director, or Human Resource Department. If immediate medical attention is required (i.e. blood is involved, a head injury, EMS needs to be called) the next step would be to make sure the injured employee receives the proper medical attention. Then, notify the MTMIC Claims Department of the incident – even if notification is without benefit of the Form 100 (Employer’s Basic Report of Injury). In an emergent situation, you may not know all the facts at that point in time, but should medical personnel contact our department for some sort of verification or authorization, we would at least be aware of the situation and able to take appropriate measures to manage the pending claim. Following said notification, the employer should then start their investigation as to the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident. If a serious injury has occurred, the Claims Department will also notify your MTMIC Loss Control Consultant, who will contact you and aid in an investigation and/or schedule to do an investigation on our behalf.

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A Tribute to a Legacy

The Hancock legacy began with John Hancock Sr. who in 1939 started Crescent Tool and Die and has been with MTMIC for 40 years. That decision 4 decades ago was made by John Hancock Sr. who joined a group of bold shop owners to start and support their own insurance company. Their goal was to improve loss control efforts for their shops and hence the long term availability and pricing. Saving money for members was the focus of the group.

Crescent supplied, repaired, and built tooling and custom machinery for the big three.

Crescent formed a new manufacturing Company in 1963 and thus Hancock Enterprises was born and moved into a larger facility. Crescent Tool and Die was closed in 1984 and Hancock Enterprises took over as the mother company.

John “Corky” Hancock was the second generation owner and CEO of Hancock Enterprises and working with his father until he passed away in 1996 oversaw all operations during his long and successful career. The shop manufacturers and sells metal gutter fittings for the rain carrying industry and sells nationally and internationally.

Hancock has over 50 employees.

Being introduced to his shop, I found that many have been with Corky for over 20 years. His business savvy, hard work and dedication to his employees made all this possible.

Corky was an avid golfer and his office is filled with historical golf treasures – pictures, trophies, letters. Every wall is covered with a picture that draws you close to see who signed it. Mixed in with the golf pictures I learned that Corky also had a political side. Pictures with Presidents, Senators, and Governors – interestingly in my conversation with Corky he not once mentioned these fascinating encounters.

The sad news is that Corky passed away last month after a long battle with cancer. We will miss this kind and effective man. Over the last few years he transferred much of the day-to-day operations to his cousin, Bob Joly. Bob has been at Hancock Enterprises for 35 plus years, so he is well tuned to all the business issues. The company is now in the good hands of Bob and Cindy Joly and Corky’s wife, Catherine Teifer. I expect they will continue the legacy of John “Corky” Hancock.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM Loss Control Manager , MSc, ARM, MiOSHA Level 1 Certified 

Effective January 1, 2017: Plastic Injection Mold Industry:Die Change Procedures for Horizontal Injection Mold Machines

s many of you in the plastic injection mold industry know, there will be a MIOSHA rule change in the standard pertaining to injection mold machines that takes effect on January 1, 2017. I have received various responses to this change, for most of you, you are already adhering to the ruling so its no big deal. For other manufacturers, this change has brought up a few questions in recent months, so to help you get ready for the rule change, here are some of the questions that have been posed to our department and to MIOSHA.

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The MTMIC Annual meeting is in about 3 weeks and we are still taking reservations. We are excited about the agenda and hope that you will be able to attend. Please contact Patty Allen at patricia.allen@mtmic.com/blog or (248) 715-0013 to register. We look forward to seeing you!

Please vote on November 8th – AND ALSO in the next week or so, when you receive the MTMIC Board ballot. The MTMIC Board is made up of 10 men and women from Michigan. They represent you and all MTMIC members. The Board members are shop owners, CEOs, CFOs, HR directors, and VPs. They work in shops that are small, medium, and large. They are dedicated to making sure that the company and the management act in the best interest of our member owners. Every September, members vote for three or four board members for the next 3-year terms. In this year’s election, you are voting for four individuals. The incumbents running for re-election are:

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Every once in a while I highlight a manager or department. Recently when reviewing some HR records, some interesting data popped up. This data involves the MTMIC claims department. Let me share what I found.

The MTMIC claims department is made up of five people. The Vice President of Claims is Donna Motley and her distinguished career was highlighted a few months back. What’s impressive is the four career professionals behind Donna on the MTMIC team.

Cindy Boyce is a Senior Claims Adjustor for MTMIC. She has been with MTMIC over 25 years. Her total industry experience is over 30 years. She is an incredibly strong right hand, number 2, and handles most of the litigated cases at MTMIC. Next in the order of tenure, is our Claims Technician, Marci Merath who has been with MTMIC for over 25 years, and has equally has the same industry claims experience. The third claims person is Kimberly Davis. Kimberly has been with MTMIC, 12 years, and has over 20 years’ experience in workers’ compensation claims adjusting. Finally, on the MTMIC claims team is Debbie Sagan. Debbie is the newcomer in the MTMIC claims department with five years of tenure, and over 25 years of workers’ compensation claims experience.

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