By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Seems like – what used to be simple, is not so simple anymore! Procedures are established for a reason – to simplify things!

In an ideal world, when an employee is injured at work, the injury is reported to the Supervisor, Safety Representative and/or Human Resource personnel. A claim is filed on the appropriate forms with your Workers’ Compensation carrier (MTMIC !). The employee is sent to the Occupational Clinic where treatment is rendered; the injured worker may be referred to a specialist. The injured worker will treat until the injury is resolved, then discharged from care, and the employee is released back to work. The steps seem pretty cut and dry and while medical care is not considered “cheap” by any means, Michigan Workers’ Compensation includes a fee sched-ule resulting in 40-60% savings on most medical bills. As an employer, I’m sure you are astounded at times, when you see the dollar amount spent on some work related injuries.

By Travis Halsted, ARM, COSS, Loss Control Consultant

The Future is Here

As we look outside every morning, we see that the weather is improving, and we are starting to shake that cabin fever. The sun hits our faces on the way to work, and optimism fills us for the upcoming day. Regardless of the industry that you work within, most of us are all met with the same issue once we arrive in our parking spots. That issue is simply people, or the lack thereof. The ability to not only find people willing to work, but to secure them for a period of time that extends past the first day is quite a feat as of late. Very few places have been able to combat this issue, but some of the manufacturing facilities have found a possible resolution. This resolution is simply re-placing the position in which an employee would be with a collaborative robot, or often referred to as “cobots”. As labor costs continue to rise, as does the need for flexibility in automation, mixed with the aforementioned shortage of qualified workers, employers are finding these cobots to not only be an option, but more so as their only option. The sales of these robots had grown to $400 million in 2017 but is expected to climb as high as $7.5 billion by the year 2027.

The Decisions of February

Every time I think about a busy time at MTM, I remember many of my recent visits to our MTM shops. Our members are undergoing massive changes all the time. There are shortages of raw materials. There are shortages of personnel. The changing product line and the markets in which they serve all create a tech environment where every minute of the day is filled with important decisions. That always helps me keep a perspective for the busy times that MTM has. February is one of those extraordinarily busy times.

By Ruth Kiefer, Vice President of Loss Control

When you have a new hire, or you need to renew your employee’s industrial truck licenses have you ever wished you had a little assistance? Or a place for them to turn to have the class training? Well, I’m here to tell you, we have that assistance for you!

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

As employer I am sure you are acutely aware of the demand for higher wages merely to employ “a warm body” – not always acquiring talents that were promised. I was at my dentist this past week and was told they are having an issue finding a receptionist; a person was hired but quit after one week. My dentist is a female; her husband periodically “helps out” in the office because they are short staffed. Jobs are available!

It seems the price of everything has universally increased. While the price of gasoline may fluctuate, I haven’t seen the same phenomenon happen at the grocery store! The local Meijer has installed a large number of “selfcheck- out” scanners, almost totally eliminating human cashiers.

Year End Closing 2022

We made it through the holidays. And Michigan winter is finally upon us. So is the closing of calendar year 2022. The MTM midyear actuarial review and subsequent monthly loss reviews are encouraging for our ninth MTM annual dividend in a row. That’s the preliminary good news. This is always a stressful time for me. We have had a good year so far, we are waiting to close the year with hopefully no large shock losses, and then we work with our actuary on the final loss numbers for the year. This year the normal year end closing stress is a bit higher. Remember that we moved the annual member’s meeting from October to early March. Traditionally at the October meeting we have given a brief synopsis of how the year looked through 9 months. It was always an estimate since there were still three months to go and large surprise losses can happen. However, this year with the annual member’s meeting in March, we won’t be giving you an estimate, but we’ll actually be giving you the year end result. As I have mentioned in an earlier newsletter, if all goes to plan we will have a great speaker, a great meal, and then hand out member dividend checks. Talk about pressure—however you can help—using your loss control skills and the MTM loss control team please do all you can to close out the holiday season with minimal losses. It’s good for your workers, it’s good for you, and it’s good for your dividend calculation.

By Ruth Kiefer, Vice President of Loss Control

This year our Loss Control department has completed accident investigations for more fork truck related injuries than any other year I have seen in my 17 years at MTM.We have had crush injuries from running over other persons feet, dropping loads on others, being ejected from the fork truck, and pedestrians being struck by fork trucks. So I am here to remind you of some safe travel practices that your operators should take when driving the industrial truck.

By Megan Brown, ARM, CWCP, CACW,
Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Nicole joined MTMIC as the Marketing Manager in November, 2022 bringing 10 years of insurance experience with a focus on Underwriting and working closely with agents on writing good business. She is trained in both personal and commercial lines, with an emphasis on Workers’ Compensation for the last few years. Nicole has a Master’s Degree in Business (MBA) and has obtained her Certified Authority on Workers’ Compensation (CAWC), Associate in Insurance (AINS) designations and is currently working towards her Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation.

Nicole is very much a free spirit. She has a passion for working with people and building relationships. She grew up in a small town in Northern Michigan, right on Lake Huron so she has always had a love of being around the water. In the summer months, in her spare time, you will most likely find Nicole on a beach somewhere! She also enjoys spending time with her three kids, traveling, and working on her long bucket list with skydiving and bungee jumping as her next adventures to cross off her list!

The same dedicated staff remain in the Marketing department and I would like to share a little bit about them.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Before setting goals, you need to evaluate the past. I’m not referring to New Year Resolutions – I’m referring to behavioral changes. Review the work related injuries that occurred at your facility this past year. If you count “zero” – keep up the good work – something is working in your favor! Is it your safety program? Safety meetings? Safety training? A Safety reward program? Open communication with your employees? Work place culture? All of the above?

Did your facility record a “near miss” or two? If so, consider a near miss to be a “warning” of what could have happened. Review the near miss scenario to de-termine what could have happened, i.e. the worst case scenario. Then review and implement corrective actions to avoid another such incident. Michigan is a “no-fault” system. Workers’ Compensation benefits are not deter-mined based on whether or not the employee was “at fault”, resulting in the injury. The only exception is if the employee is injured as a result of their intentional and willful misconduct, (i.e. – the employee punched the wall in anger).

2022 Results – 9 Month Review

In the last MTM newsletter I announced that MTM management and Board decided to move the traditional annual members’ meeting from October to March. The goal was to try a different time of year in hopes of improving turnout among members. One of the draws besides great speakers and meeting other MTM shop owners would be that in March we will know final yearend results. What a nice enhancement to the members’ meeting, instead of talking about a possible members’ dividend we hand out members’ dividend checks.

By Travis Halsted, ARM, COSS, Loss Control Consultant

In the upcoming year of 2023, I will be celebrating my 10 year anniversary with MTMIC. I have met some amazing people and been through incredible facilities that complete processes that truly change the world. Regardless of the type of facility, I am often met with the question of “what else can we do”. That facility may have a strong safety culture within their employees, and a proactive management commitment to health and safety, but they still want to do more. I can answer them quickly and with certainty. I simply tell them to find the third leg of their triangle of success. With that answer I often get a unique look, but they are usually intrigued and want to hear more.

By Glenda Moyle, Premium Accounting Manager

Well, we have started working on the January 2023 renewals. I have been working on these for over 35 years and it’s hard to believe that another year has sped by.

If you have an effective date in January you should have already received your payroll renewal form asking for new estimated payrolls for the 2023 policy year. The goal to accurately estimate payrolls reduces the chance of a surprise audit additional premium.

A common question I hear is what do we do if the payroll estimate form is not returned to MTMIC? Well, we use the higher of your 2021 audited payrolls or your current policy (2022 estimated) payrolls for your quote. It is never too late to send us back the form as we can always revise your payment schedule.

If you need another copy of the payroll form please contact me at Glenda.moyle@mtmic.com

Also, the 2023 renewal quote documents will be going out at the end of November so please watch your mail for them.

Experience Mod Calculation

It’s been some time since I wrote about Michigan workers’ compensation experience modifications and how they affect your workers’ comp premiums, so, it seems time for a refresher course. Experience modifications in Michigan are promulgated out by an outside rating agency that requires membership from all Michigan insurance companies. We submit to them data on every policy six months after it expires. We report payroll by class code and losses for every employer

This agency then produces an individual experience modification that is used by all insurance companies. To better walk you through this process, I’ve attached an exhibit with some letter designations for certain sections. Here is a simple explanation of the entire calculation.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

When someone tells you they have “good news” and “bad news” – which news do you want to hear first? For me, it depends on what kind of mood I’m in at the moment. As we all know, we are still feeling the aftershock of COVID-19 – and maybe will for a long time to come. One of the negative events was termed “The Great Resignation”. Employees resigned from their employment in record numbers. A large segment of those ending their employment were of, or nearing, retirement age. This resulted in a large loss of “experienced and skilled” employees. This loss of experience has a major impact on the employer, regardless of the industry; industrial, hospitality, construction, trucking, etc. This is bad news for employers.

After two years, The Great Resignation has morphed into “The Great Reshuffle”, meaning a significant number of employees that resigned (or were let go) are now working their way back into the workforce. Some workers returning to the same industry they worked in the past; some workers are attempting new career paths. Reports indicate that in May 2020, 54% of workers 55 and older were either working remotely or unable to work at all (in their particular industry). Today, that figure has decreased to 15%. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that by year 2030, one in four U.S. workers will be 55 or older. That is the good news!

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

Heat Illness Prevention Plan

Last month MIOSHA issued a new SEP regarding a Heat Illness Prevention Plan, I’ve been getting a few phone calls regarding what’s in this plan and what you need to do as employers to comply with this new emphasis plan. Yes, this does cover both inside and outside employees, new workers, temporary workers, full-time, part-time, basically, any worker who is exposed to hot and humid conditions. These conditions are becoming a bit more common than we’d like. Special attention should be placed on new and returning employees since they will need to build up a tolerance to your warm environments again.

By Chris Demeter, Senior Loss Control Consultant

Starting a new job is often filled with a variety of training. From learning the nitty-gritty of everyday life at the company – like how to access your email or where to find supplies – to sessions about the company culture, your first days on the job are typically spent learning more about what you will be doing than actually doing it. Often wedged somewhere between sessions about your company’s history and how to use your vacation hours are training sessions about safety.

While safety training is prioritized in certain fields like construction, it’s not always given the level of attention it deserves in other industries. Even though workplace injuries are three times more likely to occur in employees who have held their job for three months or less, safety training is often limited. In many cases, this is the only time that on-the-job safety is mentioned, at least until an accident happens or the company prepares for an audit.

MTM Annual Members Meeting

For over ten years, the MTM Annual Members Meeting has been held the third Thursday of October. That’s outlined in the MTM bylaws and it’s an item that staff looks forward to putting on for our members every year. For the last five years or so we’ve held it at The Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, Michigan. We had great reviews on the location, meeting room, and food. It’s a hard place to complain about. In May, we held the second quarter MTM Board meeting. A topic that was discussed was how can we increase the number of members that attend our annual meeting. Over the last ten years, the number of attendees bounces between 100 and 150, not taking into account the two years of cancellation or scale backs caused by COVID. We were already underway for our October 2022 meeting when this discussion took us all to a new point of how could we make the meeting better, maybe try something different.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

It has been two years since the start of COVID; and COVID continues to impact our daily lives. As the virus continues to linger and spread, albeit with “variations”, our lives have had to adjust. As we attempt to regain our independence and sense of “normalcy”, society has been attempting a Return to Work. Our department has seen an increase in work injuries, primarily injuries to workers with less than a year of seniority with the employer.

For multiple reasons, injuries to employees of less than a year on the job is common. During and post COVID, employers have been faced with an exodus of employees. Now that people are having to return to work, they may attempt work in a field entirely new to them. Commencing new employment of any kind requires a certain amount of training. The work environment may be foreign to a new hire, the pace may be different from that of their previous employment. Management’s structure most likely is different from what they were previously familiar. Expectations may be different. The actual “tools of the trade” may be new to them. Maybe the new employee hadn’t worked in a year or more and they now have to be at work by 7:00 A.M.

By Ruth Kiefer, MSc, ARM

As the pandemic created a bit of a challenge for us during the past two years, it also created a fiscal challenge for MIOSHA compliance. In review, pre-pandemic era of 2019, MIOSHA issued 543 safety related violations and collected $1.38 million in fines. In 2020, they issued 352 and collected $1.07 million in fines. I have yet to find the 2021 data, so we have a gap year of 2021. With this said, you can see that they were still out conducting some visits in the 2020 year but have a lot to make up. I would like to take this opportunity to contrast the two years to show you that some of these safety violations remain a top priority in MIOSHA’s enforcement efforts and should be a top priority to address in your facilities prior to a compliance visit.

As a reminder, this is only a partial list of possible things they can look at, the above is just some of their top SERIOUS violations. These were the most common violations between the two years and with the most for you to lose in penalties. As enforcement is increasing their efforts to address their fiscal short fall, I would highly recommend that you contact your Loss Control Representative and invite them in. We can take a proactive approach to address some of the safety items that may have creeped back into your facilities over the last two years. The pandemic shifted the way we did business and ran our facilities, as we migrate back to normal, so must we all in complying with the MIOSHA standards of safety. We’d love to help you!