For years, Midwestern Insurance Alliance has been providing trucking companies injury prevention or claims management strategies with each issue of this newsletter. In most instances, injury prevention and claims management strategies are distinct, and have little overlap. However, there is one topic that is equally important and powerful to both injury prevention and claims management efforts; the topic is wellness. Because wellness is so important to both aspects of controlling workers’ compensation costs, and managing wellness is such a challenging task, each 2010 issue of this newsletter will be part of a series devoted to impacting wellness in trucking.
Impact on Prevention
There is an abundance of information and statistics providing evidence that employees in poor physical condition suffer work related injuries at a higher rate than their more fit co-workers. One doesn’t have to look hard to find some very simple illustrations of how fitness – or lack of- can contribute to injury causation in trucking. They appear in numerous cases associated with the task where most truck drivers are injured; getting in and out of the cab. Falls due to loss of balance, shoulder strains while “swinging out,” and knee injuries from the impact of simply stepping down are all examples of common claims which can be at least indirectly caused by a driver being overweight.
Impact on Claims
Despite even the best prevention efforts, injuries do occur and the only remaining hope of controlling workers’ comp costs is managing the claim. The amount and type of treatment an injured employee receives is many times a direct function of the employee’s overall health. Furthermore, the degree of success achieved by most all post-injury management initiatives, such as early return to work programs, is either limited or enhanced by an injured worker‘s ability to participate in rehabilitation efforts (i.e., physical therapy).
Work related injuries can sometimes exacerbate or aggravate pre-existing health conditions, thus making what would ordinarily be a very simple claim become one of catastrophic proportions. For example, there have been numerous cases where an employee who sustained a simple laceration has been hospitalized because they developed a severe case of cellulitis (a serious, bacterial infection involving the skin‘s deep layer). Individuals with diabetes or other conditions attributed to poor health choices are exponentially more prone to developing conditions such as cellulitis. In most all cases, treatment of ancillary health problems set in motion by a work related injury must be covered through worker’s compensation.
Going Forward
To be successful in any wellness initiative, a trucking company MUST do more than simply disseminate information. It must make purposeful, strategic efforts to tear down barriers and remove temptations so drivers can more easily make good health choices. Midwestern Insurance Alliance will be working throughout 2010 to not only bring trucking companies information on wellness, but also strategies and tools for making wellness initiatives have substantial impact. Readers should frequently check the Midwestern Insurance Alliance trucking resources website and the interactive version of Beyond the Cab for more extensive information and additional resources:
http://www.mialosscontrol.com/trucking
Finally, because all trucking companies suffer when worker’s compensation costs escalate within the industry, there should be no “trade secrets” when it comes to wellness. Therefore, Midwestern encourages all companies to share their success stories and strategies with other companies. Recognizing companies that have been successful with wellness is a key focus of this 2010 initiative. Please email Barry Spurlock if you’d like to share your company’s success story (no matter how small), recognize a particular employee’s accomplishments, or even share your own wellness story: bsspurlock@miains.com .
Beyond the Cab 
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