Payroll renewal forms are in the process of being prepared for the January 1, 2021 renewal. While it seems like January is far off in the future, the renewal process begins months ahead of time. Once you receive the renewal form to update your payroll and locations please complete it to the best of your ability and return it to us promptly. If you have questions on completing the form, contact Glenda Moyle at Glenda.Moyle@mtmic.com or (248) 715-0015. 

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

As we slowly attempt to return to our former lives (I’m not going to say “return to normal” because, let’s face it, I doubt things will ever be what we considered “normal” in the past), there will certainly be challenges that need to be met. MTMIC was fully functional during the “stay safe” order. Challenges were met in making sure injured workers received appropriate care and treatment. Telemedicine and Teletherapy were utilized. Nurse Case Managers were not allowed to attend appointments of those physicians that were continuing to see patients in person, so they would have a follow-up conference with the injured worker and the physician’s office and obtain the required paperwork for our department. However, for the most part, physicians were reluctant to do more than keep the injured worker “status quo” while utilizing Telemedicine. Teletherapy was a little more effective, as the therapist could actually watch and respond to the injured worker while maneuvers were performed. A few injured workers did advise they “preferred” in person therapy and returned (under CDC guidelines) as soon as they were allowed.

With the current changes that we are seeing on a weekly basis, the MTMIC Loss Control staff have put together a Best Work Practices During COVID-19 guide. If you have questions regarding this guide or anything related to COVID-19, please contact us at losscontrol@mtmic.com. 

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

My team and I have been trying to keep up with these crazy times and have developed a tool-kit on our portal to help assist you with this event. The MTMIC Loss Control Department is eager to assist you with providing a safe workplace for your current employees. To help you with this, we have developed Best Practices for protecting your employees, a medical check log, and have tried to clear the interpretation of how to report Covid-19 on your 300s if any employees test positive for the virus.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

By the time you are reading this, it is hoped that we are slowly getting back to “normal”, or at least our regular routine. The last couple of months have seen some employers reduce staff, temporarily shut down and/or even close their doors permanently. Once everyone is able to return to work, will everyone still have a job? Will business increase to make up for the lost time and revenue? It is anyone’s guess.

By Chris Boggs, CPCU, ARM, ALCM, LPCS, AAI, APA, CWCA, CRIS, AINS

Published with the author’s permission.

A pandemic is defined as, an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.” Although the media lives by the motto, If it bleeds, it leads,” declaring a pandemic anytime more than a few people contract a virus, this time even the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning of possible Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Coronavirus expert, Professor Gabriel Leung, Chair of Public Health at Hong Kong University, says that unchecked, the virus could infect 60 percent of the global population meeting the definition of a pandemic.

My intent is not to accuse the media of sensationalism, nor to intimate that WHO is overreacting (I don’t think they are); my purpose is to answer the question, what makes an illness an occupational illness” and thus compensable under workers’ compensation? More specifically, how does or might workers’ compensation respond to the Coronavirus?

By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

During our daily discussions within MTMIC’s Loss Control team, we are constantly looking for ways to help our policyholders identify ways to be proactive and compliant with MIOSHA’s standards. One area that comes up quite often are confined spaces. Whether it be construction or general industry,

MIOSHA regularly cites infractions for these often overlooked areas. Through the 10 years I have been involved in workplace safety, I have found the confined space topic to be the most difficult topic to complete, discuss, teach and interpret. Is it a confined space? If so, is the area a permit required confined space? If it is a permit required confined space then am I able to eliminate the need for the permit? These are all great questions and they often leave people with their head spinning. In many cases, the person just ends up not completing the necessary items.

By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

When is the last time you had to use your first aid kit at home? Of like me, do you know where it is located at? About a month ago my wife was cutting up vegetables for dinner when she calls out “Could you please come in here now”. As I enter the kitchen, she is standing at the counter with a wad of paper towels around her finger. Me being the concerned husband asking the obvious “What did you do”? I cut my finger; could you please grab the first aid kit please? Where is it? It is in the bathroom under the sink. After securing the first aid kit and saving her finger, I ask “what time will dinner be done”? Needless to say, I finished dinner and cleaned up.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) medical services and first aid regulation, 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.151(b) states, “In the absence of an infirmary, clinic, or hospital in near proximity to the workplace which is used for the treatment of all injured employees, a person or persons shall be adequately trained to render first aid. Adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available.”

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims 

The path an injured worker’s claim can take, can go in many directions.

The perfect claim would be: an employee sustains an injury in the course of employment; it is reported immediately to the employer (supervisor or Human Resources) per company protocol; the injured worker is immediately sent to the Occupational Clinic for an evaluation, diagnosis and treatment plan; the claim is filed with the MTMIC Claims Department within 24 hours of the injury; the injured worker may be off the “rest of shift” and return to work the next day, with or without restrictions; the injured worker returns to the clinic, the injury has resolved, a full release and discharge from care has been given; medical bills are forwarded to MTMIC for payment; and the claim closes in 90 days or shortly thereafter!

It may sound somewhat “drawn out” but, basically, this is an example of a “simple” claim.

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

The year end is fast approaching and once again we will be addressing your record keeping questions for the next few months to come. MiOSHA requires that all recordable injuries be logged onto the MIOSHA Form 300 throughout the year, and when it comes to determining how many days away from work should you be logging on the form always results in questions. To better prepare you in completing the MiOSHA Form 300, let us review some of the most common questions regarding days away from work. Over the years, the questions below, have been some of our most common questions to date that we seem to get every year.

(1) How do I record a work-related injury or illness that results in days away from work?

When an injury or illness involves 1 or more days away from work, you must record the injury or illness on the MIOSHA 300 Log with a check mark in the space for cases involving days away and an entry of the number of calendar days away from work in the number of days column. If the employee is out for an extended period of time, you must enter an estimate of the days that the employee will be away, and update the day count when the actual number of days is known.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

I received notice of litigation the other day regarding an injury that allegedly occurred many years ago. The injury did not occur while MTMIC was the Workers’ Compensation carrier, but we currently insure the employer where the employee works. The original injury occurred in 2002. That’s correct – the employee sustained an injury to his foot when he jumped off a truck 17 years ago, and he is now alleging “total disability”. The employee has been working these past 17 years, not necessarily without incident or treatment, but certainly there have been other circumstances in his life that may have had an impact on his feet!

For a change of pace, let me share an MTM project with you that I have been working on. And I will warn you that it includes some insurance geek. You buy insurance to provide financial reimbursement in case of loss. You do this to protect your building, your cars, your health, your life and in the case of MTM – your workers for workplace accidents. All of us do not want large financial surprises if one of these loss events occurs. Like us, insurance companies buy insurance too. When an insurance company buys insurance it is called reinsurance. While insurance companies retain financial reserves to pay losses, what happens if we had a plant explosion with 20 or 50 employees injured? What if an MTM member had a building fire that injured a group of employees? Or a car accident with 5 employees seriously hurt? You get the picture. While this type of loss probability is low, it can (and will) happen. It is prudent for MTM to have protection for these possible shock losses.

At MTM we buy reinsurance for catastrophic events. Your MTM pool has plenty of financial reserves to cover losses. This is proven by our financial reserve evaluations by the Michigan State Insurance Department, independent outside actuaries, the MTM Board made up of members and verified by an outside insurance rating agency, Demotech which rates MTM financial stability as A’ – Unsurpassed. Still, we would not want MTM’s financial condition (or our member dividend program) hurt by a shock event. We would never want our Member dividend program harmed because of a low probably, but significant single loss event. Conservative management of your company requires us to buy this type of insurance protection.

So with that background, now is the time of year to search, evaluate and purchase MTM reinsurance effective 1/1/2020. Over the last two weeks I have met with 9 companies to get competitive bids for MTM reinsurance. Due to the expense of this coverage and effect on MTM’s members, several MTM officers are involved. They include VP of Sales, Megan Brown, Chris Doebler, CFO, Glenda Moyle, Premium Accounting Manager, Donna Motley, VP of Claims and Ruth Kiefer, VP of Loss Control. Showing the quality of MTM management brings the price down for this reinsurance coverage.

Reinsurance cost is one of our highest expense items after claims payments. And like you with suppliers, I have to negotiate hard with present vendors and look for new vendors to reduce expenses. It’s part of our job. For me, saving money on reinsurance goes straight to the bottom line and into the MTM member dividend program.

Now you know about insurance company insurance, reinsurance.

Until next month, enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

By Ruth Kiefer, ARM, Loss Control Manager

As many of you know, we base our annual safety inspections on injury trends and MiOSHA’s most common cited violations. Last year MiOSHA issued 408 general industry health citations with the average citation being $1,708, that’s $696,911 collected in health citations with regards to general industry.

For general industry Safety violations, a total of 1.38 Million was collected and 543 citations issued. So the average citation issued in 2018 was $2,555. This year MiOSHA broke down the top violations into both Health Violations and Safety Violations. If you are unsure if you have a Health or Safety violation, please ask your Loss Control consultant for more guidance on any of these violations noted below.

Listed below are the 2018 most recent general industry HEALTH violations cited by MiOSHA:

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

It is that time of year again! Spring! Even though it is dark and raining outside as I write this, the calendar indicates the first day of Spring was on March 20th this year. While the weather may not seem like Spring has arrived, the school year is coming to an end. 

Senior graduation, prom and graduation parties. At this time of year, students eligible to work between the ages of 14 and 17, legally known as a “minor”, may start looking for employment. This can be a win-win situation for both the minor and the prospective employer.

The minor may only be seeking “part-time” work and the employer may only need “part-time” help. Employers in the tooling industry are looking for ways to interest young people to learn manufacturing and maybe a skilled trade. It is not uncommon for minors to work within the fast food or retail industries, however, those positions can involve evenings and weekends. Clerical positions are generally 8 to 5:00. Whatever the position available for a minor, there are certain parameters that must be followed.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

At this time of year, particularly this year, we seem to talk and complain about the weather. The winter season 2018 – 2019 has been confusing, if nothing else. We’ve had snow, ice, sleet/freezing rain, temperatures that range from sub-zero to almost spring. As a result of our yo-yo weather, a lot of people have gotten sick and a lot of people have sustained an injury. Our department is receiving a lot of claims for “slip and fall on ice and snow” resulting in broken bones, sore muscles and head injuries that are being defined as a “concussion”. A concussion is considered to be a “traumatic brain injury” – a mild traumatic brain injury – the least serious type of brain injury. A concussion is defined as a short loss of normal brain function.

In January we mailed out information relating to Proposal 1 – Michigan Regulation & Taxation of Marihuana Act Passage. We mentioned that we were in the process of putting together a template for a substance abuse policy and that process is almost complete. It has gone a little slower than anticipated but should be in your hands in the next few weeks. For more information, please contact Megan Brown at (248) 715-0012 or your loss control representative.

All State & Federal Labor Law Posters have been mailed out to all of our companies, as well as updated minimum wage information and the new Paid Medical Leave Act details. If you have NOT received yours please contact Patty Allen (patricia.allen@mtmic.com/blog) who will get a replacement set mailed out to you.

By Travis Halsted, Loss Control Consultant

Election Day 2018 has come and gone. A new governor was elected and several important issues were settled. While each item that was voted on holds a level of significance to many, one particular item has left companies from every industry scratching their heads. Proposal 1’s passage has provided more questions than answers, but I hope that I can help clear up some of the questions that you may have. Although Michigan voters passed the proposal to legalize marihuana for adult recreational use, employers can still “just say no” to hiring or retaining employees who violate workplace drug policies. The spelling of Marihuana versus the more common marijuana spelling dates back to the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Michigan utilized the federal spelling at that time, which was Marihuana. An act of Michigan Legislature is required in order to change the spelling to the informal spelling (marijuana), administrative rules will be using an “h” in the spelling.

The bill regarding Michigan’s Minimum Wage was just signed by the Governor on December 13, 2018. The new legislation is under review by the Department’s Wage and Hour Division. Therefore, the MTMIC State and Federal Labor Law Posters will not be mailed out in December as in past years due to the late changes made on the Michigan Minimum Wage section. We are waiting for updated information from LARA’s Wage and Hour Division. Unfortunately we have been told that the updated information will not be released until January. We apologize for the delay ~ posters will be sent as soon as we receive the updated information.