Megan Brown, ARM, CWCP, CAWC
President

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Board of Directors for the opportunity to serve as President of MTM. It is an honor to lead this dynamic organization as we celebrate our 50th year, building on the foundation of our 49-year legacy.

For those who may not know, I joined MTM 18 years ago as Director of Sales and Marketing, hired by former President Gary Wood. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing—and contributing to—tremendous growth across many areas: direct written premium, surplus, service offerings, policyholder count, and dividends returned to our customers. What’s particularly notable is that we’ve achieved this growth while retaining much of the original staff who were here when I started—an extraordinary accomplishment in today’s workforce landscape.

By Donna Motley
Vice President of Claims

A little bit of a refresher course

How do we determine an injured employee’s Workers’ Compensation weekly benefit amount? To calculate an average weekly wage, we need 52 weeks of gross wages dating back from the date of injury. This includes overtime and bonuses. Of those 52 weeks, we pick out the highest 39 weeks. This gives the injured worker the highest possible average weekly wage. If an employee has only worked 20 weeks prior to the date of injury, the average weekly wage would be based upon 20 weeks of gross weekly wages divided by 20. If an employee is injured their first week of work (and yes, this does occur), the employee’s hourly rate is multiplied by 40 if the employee was hired to work 40 hours per week, to establish the average weekly wage. Based on the employee’s average weekly wage, tax filing status and number of claimed dependents allowed by Workers’ Compensation criteria, the State of Michigan provides the weekly benefit rate.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM
Vice President of Loss Control

To help you stay up to date on the most cited serious violations from MIOSHA, I attended CET’s annual release of the top 20 that they provide at their annual Michigan Safety Conference. You should be aware that both the number of citations and fines have increased 18 percent since 2023. In 2024, MIOSHA collected approximately $2.62 million in serious violations alone.

On the General Industry Safety violation side, approximately 546 citations were issued in 2024. They collected $1.9 Million in fines, which averages out to $3,400 for the average safety citation. Now for the Health side of things, as there are always two parts. The health side issued 547 citations and collected $659,700 in fines. The average citation per location was $1,200. If you are unsure if you have a Health or Safety violation, please contact your Loss Control Consultant for more guidance of these most cited violations listed below. We are happy to help you stay in compliance.

Consecutive Years of Member Dividends – 11

On 12/31/24, our CFO was busy that evening transmitting to our actuaries our entire claims history. That data included date of injury, what was paid so far, and our estimate of what remains to be paid on every claim since 2006. There is lots of detail to send. This data is then sorted by our actuary and trended to get an estimate on the final claims costs for claims that may have just happened in 2024. By getting that assessment of the past 18 years’ worth and applying it to the known and unknown data of 2024, they come up with a final estimate of claims cost for 2024. This actuarial process takes about three weeks and involves them sending it to a second actuary to do a peer review of the entire calculation and data. The net result of this three-week project is a 110-page report that gives MTM the most scientific basis of plugging numbers into our 2024 financial statement. As a mutual insurer, for 11 years it has been the Board of Directors position that profits get returned to our members.

Sean Heinonen
Loss Control Consultant

So you’ve taken the time to identify the hazards in your workplace, now what is your next step in protecting yourself or your employees? Did you know there is a hierarchy of 5 levels for determining the most effective control methods? These methods include elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment.

Donna Motley
Vice President of Claims

I read a recent statistic listing the “most dangerous” jobs; they were :

1. Logging
2. Fishing & Hunting
3. Structural Iron & Steel Workers
4. Roofing
5. Aircraft pilots.

Dissecting these professions support the “danger” of the job. However, “danger” does not necessarily equal injury severity or frequency.

For the last 11 years I have talked about how MTM is different from regular insurance companies. Yes, we are required to follow the insurance company rules. We have normal insurance company departments: claims, loss control, sales, accounting, underwriting. We have an outside rating agency grade of A-. So why do I continue to say, but MTM is different. I base my comment on over 50 years of which the last 45 have been in insurance company management. The difference is staff, focus and Board of Directors. Staff, MTM stability is well known. A few notable examples: Glenda, Premium Accounting over 40 years, Donna, Cindy, Marci, and Kimberly in MTM claims all over 20 years, Megan Sales/Marketing 18 years, Chris – CFO over 30 years, Loss Control Ruth and Chris over 15 years. Pretty amazing. When you have that type of stability, customer focus becomes second nature.

Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM
Vice President of Loss Control

Happy New Year to everyone! With the new season upon us I just have some friendly reminders about first posting your form 300A from February 1 through April 30th and electronically submitting the 300A summary if you are a high hazard industry and have over 20 employees by March 2nd. Those who forgot to submit their forms online were fined between $600-$1,400 by MIOSHA.

Donna Motley
Vice President of Claims

By the time you are reading this, we will be into the New Year – 2025! Employees will be returning to work after spending time with family and loved ones. A new year and hopefully a new start to all things good!

What isn’t new in 2025, will be ice and snow resulting in slips and falls. Falling can result in broken bones, concussions, bruised and pulled muscles. As adults, when falling, it is instinct to stick out an arm to try and “break” the fall. What results is a broken bone, dislocated shoulder or torn rotator cuff.

MTM — It’s Members, It’s Board

I am frequently asked “how is MTM different than commercial insurance carriers?” After my 50 years in insurance, many years at a commercial insurance company, it is a question I enjoy answering. The difference between a specialty mutual company owned by its members and a large investor-owned insurance company is huge. Priorities/goals at the top of the small mutual are vastly different from a multi-state, multi-coverage commercial insurance company. So let me start with the MTM Board of Directors and what happened in October.

By Chris Demeter
Senior Loss Control Consultant

It should come as no surprise to learn that welding operations present significant risks to employees, property, equipment, and other physical business assets among industrial and manufacturing processes. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), over half a million workers are exposed to the hazards common to the welding profession each year, often resulting in injuries, lost wages, and reduced productivity. Faced with the potential for a serious or even fatal workplace injury, how would you prevent welding-related injuries? In this guide, we’ll explore some of the best risk management practices in the industry, helping your business protect employees and assets from the risks associated with welding operations.

By Donna Motley
Vice President of Claims

Over the years, our office has received claims involving injured workers who do not speak English, or at best, very limited English. We have been asked “how” we handle these situations. If at all possible, we first inquire whether or not the injured worker has a spouse, significant other, child or other relative that would be able to step in as a translator/interpreter for us. Most injured workers would be most comfortable with a family member intervening. Some employers may have a co-employee facilitate the translation/interpretation process. If a family member or coemployee is not available, we have to hire an outside, professional interpreter. While there may be a couple of Nurse Case Managers that we hire that are “knowledgeable” with a specific language, they cannot act as a formal interpreter. They, obviously, are hired by MTMIC to aid the injured worker and facilitate medical treatment, and as such, are paid by MTMIC and may not be seen as being “impartial”. Translators and interpreters should be certified and/or degreed in the vocation.

Brady Schlesener is Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Gemini Group. He is responsible for overseeing all commercial activities for the company’s 18 locations with $300 million in annual revenue. He has over 23 years of professional experience in the automotive industry and has been with Gemini since 2007. Additionally, he serves on the Manufacturing Technology Mutual Insurance Company Board.

Schlesener holds a Bachelor of Arts, Finance and Marketing, from Cedarville University as well as a Master of Business Administration from Michigan State University. He is a member of various professional organizations including Motors & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), Aluminum Extrusion Council (AEC), and the Forging Industry Association (FIA). Additionally, he volunteers with the High School Youth Ministry at Highland Park Baptist Church and the Seaholm Football Booster Club.

We have expanded our Sales and Marketing Department and are reaching out to you to introduce Marcy Savage – our new Marketing Manager. With an impressive 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, including over 10 years specializing in workers’ compensation, Marcy brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will greatly benefit our organization and our clients.

Marcy’s extensive background in both underwriting and marketing workers compensation and her commitment to providing exceptional customer service make her a valuable addition to our team. Her passion for helping others and her dedication to staying current with industry trends will undoubtedly enhance our capabilities.

Passing the Baton

After 53 years of insurance management, it seems time to turn the MTM helm over to a “new” manager. After lots of discussion, assessment and planning meetings, the Board of Directors over the last year came up with a transition date of 6/1/25.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM
Vice President of Loss Control

My team and I are often asked “how can I improve my safety program?”. This is a question that comes up even to a seasoned safety professional as companies try to reduce operating costs as much as possible. A survey of regional safety professionals was recently conducted to determine what they would like to improve so they can provide a better safety culture in their workplace. Listed below are the top ten answers professionals gave to this question. I’ve added a loss control view after each identified issue.

Where Does the Money Go?

Occasionally I am asked “where does the premium go that is paid by MTM members?” I could break that down into more than two dozen categories but let me just give you a high-level view. If I took 2023 as an example year, I could put the percentages into three basic categories. No surprise, the number one category is claims including legal expenses with the second being administrative expenses which include company salaries, rent and of course, taxes. Not only are there income taxes to pay but we’re also required to pay assessments to the state and a percentage of the premium as a state premium tax. And the third category are the leftover funds which are paid to members as dividends. Again, going back to 2023, in rounded numbers, 55% of the premium is paid out in claims and claims handling costs with 25% paid for MTM administrative expenses and 20% was returned as member dividends.

By Donna Motley,
Vice President of Claims

Determining what to write about this month was a no brainer – the subject: The weather! We just experienced a week of high temperatures with high humidity. While I have written about this topic in the past, after this past week, I feel it bears repeating.

It came upon us suddenly. We were not prepared. There was no chance to become acclimated. Becoming dehydrated or suffering from the heat is not covered by Workers’ Compensation. Keep an eye on your co-workers for signs – muscle cramping, a “heat” rash, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, confusion, irritability, fatigue, weakness, numbness or tingling in limbs, fingers and toes, excessive thirst, dry mouth, infrequent urination. All signs there could be a problem.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM
Vice President of Loss Control

As many of you have already experienced, MIOSHA had a full complete year of compliance audits and are on a roll. To help our policyholders stay on track, we always try to provide CET’s annual release of the top 20 that they provide at their annual Michigan Safety Conference. On the General Industry Safety violation side, approximately 500 citations were issued in 2023. They collected $1.33 Million in fines, which averages out to $2,606 for the average safety citation. Now for the Health side of things, as there are always two parts. The Health side issued 565 citations and collected $823,200 in fines. The average citation per location was $1,456. If you are unsure if you have a Health or Safety violation, please contact your Loss Control Consultant for more guidance of these most cited violations below. We are happy to help you stay in compliance.

MTM Annual Members Meeting, March 2024

In March, the Annual MTM Members meeting was held. This was the second year of the meeting to be held in March. Prior to the last two years, the meeting was held in October. At the October meeting one of the presentations was the company profitability for the current year and the ‘likelihood’ of a members’ dividend at the end of the year. After holding the meeting for many, many years in October, our Marketing Department discussed the advantage of holding the meeting in March at which time, instead of discussing the possibility of a dividend, we could actually hand out checks at the Annual Members meeting. This review and suggestion was made to the Board of Directors and the Board agreed to move the October Annual Members meeting to March.