Posted by Katrina Paglierani on Tue, Jan 19, 2010 @ 11:06 AM
Depending on the laws in your particular state, you may be able to close your most expensive cases by using a job finding service. The examples below have been cleared of any and all personal file information and details.
Common case statistics:
Claimant is usually between the ages of 38 and 52, high school education, physically demanding or repetitive occupation, relatively high-paying blue collar occupation.
Common injuries are carpal tunnel, rotator cuff and lower back/soft tissue damage.
Average age of case from date of injury 2 years old. Usually released with restrictions 12 months or more.
Some examples of actual cases:
Actual Case A
State: Michigan
Male aged 46
Date of Injury: 12/03/07
Restrictions from IME: He is disabled for any job that requires the use of his left hand and his fingers for forceful grasping, climbing, pulling, lifting over 10lbs on a frequent basis or over 20 lbs on occasion. He is also disabled from work in cold environments or work that woulld result in vibrations to the left hand.
Industry: Construction
Education: High School Education, no computer skills.
Results After 8 weeks:6 interviews 3 attended 3 not attended We were informed that the claimant had accepted settlement.
Actual Case B
State: Texas
Male Aged 53
Date of Injury 2006
Restrictions from IME: injured lower back circa 2006 reached MMI in 2007
Industry: Construction
Education: High School Graduate
Results after 12 weeks: 8 Interviews attended: 2
Case was closed and settled favorably for the carrier after non- compliance was shown.
Actual Case C
State: Michigan
Female Aged 37
Date of Injury:1993
Restrictions from IME: Can return to sedentary work. Exerting up to 10lbs of force occasionally (i.e. activity or condition exists up to 1/3 of the time) and/or a negligible amount of force frequently (i.e. activity or condition exists from 1/3 to 2/3 of the time) or lift, carry push, pull or otherwise move options. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time, but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.
Industry: Nurse's Aid
Education: High School Education, no computer skills.
Results after 10 weeks: 7 interviews 0 attended 7 not attended We were informed that the claimant had accepted settlement.
Actual Case D
State: Illinois
Male aged 53
Date of Injury: Nov 2006
Restrictions from IME: Lower Back injury. Permanent restrictions of no lifting more than 25-30 lbs with no repetitive bending, twisting or stooping.
Industry: Construction (foundations)
Education: High School Education, 2 years vocational mechanics school.
Results after 6 weeks:4 interviews 0 attended 4 not attended Case closed. Claimant was refusing to get back operation that would allow him to return to his former occupation as foreman. Back surgery scheduled.
Actual Case E State: Maryland
Male aged 34
Date of Injury: July 2008
Restrictions from IME: non-sedentary position, no jolting or vibration pressure to lower back.
Industry: Transportation (truck driver)
Education: High School Education
14 week results 8 interviews 3 attended 5 not attended. Spoke to Claims adjuster ,she said she was very pleased with the results and "got what she needed." No other details provided.
Actual Case F
State: North Carolina
Male aged 55
Date of Injury 2007
Restrictions from IME: No lifting above head of 50 lbs or more.
Education; High School Graduate
15 week results: He went to all of the first 10 before he stopped going. His attorney requested copies of each job notice prior to claimant going. Was reported by HR as poorly dressed on the interviews and not filling out complete applications.
We were informed case was settled.
Posted by Katrina Paglierani on Thu, Jan 07, 2010 @ 09:04 AM
Well, it is nice to post something positive in 2010 about potential return to work possibilities. National Job Finders does not use online job postings to find open positions for injured workers, but I watch this as an indicator of hiring overall. This bodes well for the potential openings we can locate for injured workers with restrictions as well. Afterall, only a very few open positions are actually advertised anywhere, over 80% are not.
If you would like to look into this information in more detail, please visit the link below to see information on a particular state or industry. I note that Michigan, the state where we do much of our workers compensation job finding is still struggling. Though the postings are up, they have not caught up with the loss they suffered in Nov. Despite these discouraging numbers, we have consistently been able to successfully find open, suitable, and acceptable positions for the injured worker cases in Michigan and elsewhere.
Also available at this link is a specific look at the posted jobs in relation to the number of unemployed in that industry. Here we see that there are more jobs posted than unemployed in the healthcare industry and computer & mathematical science. In all others, this is not the case.
The transportation and material moving industry shows the highest ratio of unemployed to open positions at 13 unemployed per posted position. This is one of the industries from which we see most of our job finding cases. Others are manufacturing and construction.
www.conference-board.org/economics/helpwantedOnline.cfm.
Posted by Katrina Paglierani on Thu, Dec 10, 2009 @ 08:04 AM
I just read this article on insurancejournal.com and found it is worth recommending to my readers.
Injury Severity, Not Legal Fees, Drives Workers Comp Costs in Illinois
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2009/12/07/105760.htm
What attracted me to this article is that I was specifically researching the number of injured workers or percentage of employees that are out on workers comp in different industries and in different states. It turns out, those in the industry do not have those numbers readily available. But, I think that it is worth looking into for your own education and future planning. Especially considering the example shown in this article.
"For every 100 illinois construction worker there are 1.21 injuries per year." I also read recently that the average age of a construction worker is 44, up from 40 a few years earlier. This is probably due to the fact that people are staying in the workforce longer, retiring later.
In addition, at least in illinois, the construction workforce is projected to increase in different sectors anywhere from 10-15 percent in 2010. So, one would assume, there will be an increase of workers compensation claims that go along with that.
Construction injuries, according to the insurancejournal are usually extremity injuries or back injuries. From my experience, most of the construction cases we handle are back injuries and/or rotator cuff. These cases are the most expensive, because they go on for a long time. Also, they are more difficult to place and require dedication and special attention. Often, construction companies do not offer light or modified duty because they have no where to place the injured workers.
This is also true of manufacturing and transportation companies among others. My suggestions is that you take the time to find out what percentage of your workforce is out of workers compensation to get a handle on how much it is really costing you.
You may even want to plug it into the free "Sales to pay for Accidents" calculator on reduceyourworkerscomp.com
http://reduceyourworkerscomp.com/calculator.php
referenced article: http://ibjonline.com/print_swillinois_construction_workforce.html