December 31 conjures up a whole bunch of thoughts. One of the more boring, but required duties is for us to prepare our calendar year profit and loss statements, and get a start on the taxes for the year. You go through the cost of raw materials, the cost/depreciation of equipment, the building expenses, utilities, labor expenses, benefit costs, and in the end hopefully find a profit was yielded. MTM goes through a similar process, and this process is important for not only tax purposes, but to also determine MTM member dividends.

While we go through many of the same things as your shop, there are some differences. The parts that are the same are that we go through the office rent expense, office utility cost, office supply expense, mailing costs, printing, staff wages and staff benefits. All of that matches up pretty well with your shop’s process. In MTM’s case, all of those items only account for 12% to 14% of the MTM total expenses. By far, and not surprising, MTM’s largest expense is paying claims.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Work related injuries submitted to our department tend to occur in cycles. At a given time we may see an influx of shoulder injuries, then foot injuries or hernias. What we have been experiencing most recently are injuries involving “teeth”, where an employee either fell and damaged a tooth or teeth, or sustained a blow to the mouth resulting in damage or loss of a tooth or teeth. 

MTM Office and COVID

The MTM Board and Management position has been simple: If member companies are open, MTM needs to be open supporting member activities. Claims still happen, Loss Control services are needed, policy and billing changes occur. Because we never wanted our claims representative to be talking with a member company or injured worker in open space, every MTM employee has a separate office with a door. With this office layout, we have required spacing working at the office.

Here is a department update:

MTM’s Member Dividend Program – 2021

On December 23rd, the MTM Board approved a $3 million member dividend declaration to be paid March 1, 2021. Let me give you more details how the MTM member Board and MTM member Finance Committee came to this decision. Dividends are paid out of annual profits. While the year is not yet over, we have some predictions of what the year looks like, and all, at this point, look to show that 2020 was a profitable year. It is always the goal of the Board Committees and full Board to return profits to our member-owners. So, this process started on Thursday, December 3rd, with the regularly scheduled Board Finance Committee. This Committee is made up of members: Teena Kowalski – Repair Clinic, Barry Kavanagh – Avalon and Tahoe, Gary Sievert – Wellington Industries, Andrew Varenytsia – Romeo Rim, Jerry Decker – Precision Boring, Jack Accardo – Haller International Technologies, Joe Keppler – Shuert Industries and Gerd Walter – Creative Automation and Kurt Heuser. The Committee members took the management recommendation of $2.5 million and questioned management on assumptions and details for the 2020 profit projection. At the end of a hardy discussion, the Committee felt the profit would be likely higher than management suggested, and decided that instead of the $2.5 million profit estimate $3 million was more probable.

Every year, millions of employers are required to keep track of their workers’ injuries and illnesses by recording them in what is often called the “OSHA Logs.” The OSHA Logs consist of three separate documents: the Form 300 Log of Work- Related Injuries and Illnesses, the Form 300-A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illness Incident Report. It is required for all applicable employers (employers with 10 or more employees in certain industries) to retain the last five years of each of these documents. MIOSHA (Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration) will request to see them as needed during inspections and enforcement actions.

Under a Final Rule (Federal Registry Doc # 2016-10443) that became effective on January 1, 2017, OSHA revised its requirements for recording and submitting records of workplace injuries and illnesses to require that some of this recorded information be submitted to OSHA electronically for posting to the OSHA website via the Injury Tracking Application (ITA). After additional public commentary and feedback from employers, a second Final Rule (Federal Registry Doc # 2019-00101) was published by OSHA amending its original recordkeeping regulation. The current Final Rule was published on January 25, 2019, and made effective on February 25, 2019.

We often hear companies say “our people make the difference”. And that is clearly the case at MTM. The special skill sets of MTM staff are shown in Loss Control when an immediate accident analysis is conducted after a severe plant injury. It is shown when MTM claims staff is handling a plaintiff attorney on a litigated claim. It is shown every day when the MTM marketing staff is helping a member with a question and when MTM accounting staff are problem solving for members. All of these staff skills are highlighted even more when we are in a disruptive period caused by COVID. The MTM staff knows that if our members are open, MTM is open.

Not long ago, I was reporting that at my 7 year anniversary, I was still MTM’s newest hire. That says a lot about MTM staffing and stability. What the statement did not cover is that in the background we had 2 temporary staff members working on projects. They are Melanie English and Djon Ljuljdjuraj. After 5 years of temporary work, I made the leap that they have earned the badge to be an MTM employee. With some of the present MTM staff members close to possible retirement, preparing for the next generation of staff makes sense. After 5 years, we are positive that Melanie and Djon have the MTM DNA. Rather than me tell you about Melanie and Djon, please see their comments below.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Pre-existing conditions, physical or mental, have a great impact on work related injury claims. The State of Michigan Workers’ Disability Compensation Act was predicated on the basis that “you take employees as you get them”. Everyone has their own set of baggage. Family health history pre-disposes some people to certain conditions as does our own personal history. Personal hobbies or activities outside of work, housework, yardwork, raking leaves, trimming bushes, shoveling snow can initiate physical conditions or ailments that are amplified or exacerbated when a person performs work functions.

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

As you know an outbreak at your facility can be devastating not only to your staff morale but to your production line as well. This puts you in a pinch and scrambling for staff to complete your orders for 14 days while they are quarantining. As of December 8, 2020 the CDC has put forth new guidelines for quarantining. So here is the bottom line… those who have had close contact still need to quarantine and the local health department will determine the length of time, but this time could be significantly reduced.

At the normal October MTM member’s meeting, a couple important Board of Director items take place. First is the election of Board members. Board members serve three year terms. Those terms are staggered so that in any one year no more than four Board members are up for reelection. This year we had four members up for reelection. They were: Jerry Decker – Precision Boring Company, Teena Kowalski – Repair Clinic LLC, Bobby Cox – Acorn Stamping Company and John Moll, Gemini Group – retired. I am pleased to report that all four were reelected by ballots from members. The direction of MTM starts at the top so it was my pleasure to confirm our continued work with these highly qualified individuals. Each of them brings special skill sets to MTM. We have been successful in mixing those skills together to achieve great results for our MTM members/owners.

The second important item at the October Board meeting is election of the Board Chair. This election takes place by the current Board members every three years. Long time Board member Jack Accardo – Haller International Technologies, has been MTM’s Chairman for 2018, 2019, and 2020. During his tenure, MTM paid dividends of $12.9 million dollars. This averages 23.6% of each member’s premium. During that same time period under Jack’s leadership, the MTM surplus account increased from $28 million to $33 million. Each of these two events is significant. From my 40+ years managing insurance operations, I give an “A” grade to the MTM Chairman, Board Committee heads, Board members, and Board Committee members.

For the next three-year Board leadership term, the Board elected Joe Keppler – Shuert Industries, as the new MTM chairman effective January 1, 2021. Mark Mullen – Griggs Steel, was elected by the Board as Vice Chairman. Both of these members know MTM history and I feel confident they will continue the MTM’s success even in challenging times.

By the way – we just closed another 2020 claims month. The results through October 31st are encouraging for a seventh dividend year in a row. With that said, we still have a couple of months to get through. However, with the October results just added to the first nine months, the positive profit/member’s dividend trend looks promising. Still with two months to go, be safe.

By Travis Halsted, ARM, COSS

Well, as much as we tried to avoid it, our warmer temperatures are slipping away. As we all awake to cooler mornings, furnaces throughout Michigan are starting up. Regardless of the industry that you are in, so are the heating devices at yours. Whether it be by gas, electric or propane, whenever there is a heat source there is a hazard of fire. Workers’ Compensation Loss Control often focuses on how to reduce lacerations, strains, contusions and fractures to name a few. Life safety items are often touched on, but not a point of focus as catastrophic events are less frequent. Even the smallest fire could result in respiratory distress, burns, and even fatality claims. It is vital that loss control looks at all aspects, and because of this, I wanted to point out some tips on how to prevent potential fires from heating devices in your workplace.

By John J. Walsh, MMA President & CEO

Spread Hope, Not COVID

Nearly eight months have passed since our industry, our families and the world were confronted by the health and economic challenges posed by COVID-19. As state and federal officials responded to the pandemic with various actions that included an economic shut down, financial support for businesses and individuals, as well as rules and regulations affecting how we live and operate our businesses, few predicted that the various economic limitations would have lasted this long. I remember sending MMA staff home to work firmly believing that we would all be back by early summer.

Regrettably, COVID-19 remains a serious threat to our society as many states, including Michigan, are witnessing an increase in cases on a daily basis. Based on the information available to me from the Michigan Economic Recovery Council, a group of health professionals and industry leaders with which I am working closely, much of the increase can be attributed to a change in the weather forcing more individuals from outdoor activities to inside where the risk of transmission is greater, and the impact of fatigue on our fellow citizens and their willingness to comply with what seem to be everchanging rules.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

Do you believe in angels, ghosts or aliens from outer space? If not, is it because you have never seen one? Well, the average person cannot see the little bug causing havoc with the “world”, but we have “proof” it was here, is here and continues to be here! Something we cannot see is changing the way we live and go about our daily activities. Fall weather has arrived and we are fast approaching winter. And we are still under the watchful eye of COVID-19. Some restrictions have been partially lifted but we are a long way from “life as we knew it” prior to March 2020.

The Workers’ Compensation arena has been affected as well. As you may recall, doctor’s offices were closed for a short period, then only saw patients via telemedicine. While telemedicine was instrumental in a patient being able to be evaluated, the visits technically do not qualify as a form of treatment. Without an actual physical examination, doctors appeared to be somewhat reluctant to do more than prescribe the injured worker to “stay the course”. Of all the cases we handled during that time, not one patient was discharged from care via telemedicine. Typically, a medical professional would want a physical exam of the patient before declaring a full recovery and recommending a return to all normal activities. This results in continued lost wages if the injured worker had previously been diagnosed as disabled from working, and the added fee for a return visit.

The current posters that have previously been distributed to you are up to date with the current state and federal requirements. The COVID poster is required until December 31,2020 and due to the potential for that date to be extended or new poster requirements, we have decided to postpone our annual poster mailing until Spring to make sure that the posters meet all requirements. In the event that there is a new requirement, we will send the update to you.

Annual MTM Members Meeting

The Annual MTM Members’ Meeting is held each October. Normally, 150 MTM members attend this event. The last few years, we’ve enjoyed the beautiful facility/room and a great buffet of beef, seafood, and vegetarian meals at The Inn at St. John’s. If the main courses did not fill you, the variety of salads and desserts did.

We’ve always had an interesting speaker as part of the two-hour program. A couple of smaller parts of the program are Chris Doebler, the MTM CFO, and I do a five-minute update on the results of the year to date and first look at the annual member dividend. At the end of the meeting, we have a wide variety of gifts that are drawn at random and given to our members. The MTM Chairman of the Board, Jack Accardo, presides over the member gift giving.

Certificate of Insurance

InsuranceA common request from our members is a Certificate of Insurance. Most often this is requested by a customer of our MTM member. That is a customer of our member is requesting that before they work at the customer’s location, the MTM member provides a Certificate of Insurance. For MTM members who work only at their own shop, a Certificate of Insurance rarely comes up. On the other hand, some of MTM members provide equipment maintenance/ repair/installation at their customer’s location, and this Certificate of Insurance is requested. There are two primary reasons that customers request this from our members.

By Donna Motley, Vice President of Claims

We are all familiar with the proverbial phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Turning a negative into a positive. The power of positive thinking. Lemons into lemonade is good, but, what about when life gives you COVID-19? How can something that has been so impactful or should I say, devastating to our lives and our country have anything “positive” associated with it? We have to adjust and evolve. And we are.

Having to wear a facial mask is now the “norm”. Aside from the health benefits, we are now also turning mask wearing into a fashion statement! You can buy a mask bearing the likeness of your favorite Superhero, Disney character, Sports Team, Flower, etc. You can buy a mask with rhinestones, sequins, beads, lace, fringe, etc. There are special masks made for Brides to wear on their special day! You can even buy a face mask holder/necklace so you can have your mask at your fingertips at any given moment.A global positive was the reduction in air pollution as there were less vehicles on the road. Science magazine reported up to 50% reduction in global seismic noise for the period March thru May, 2020. Amazing!

We have recently updated our website and portal with two new postings to protect automotive service workers from exposure to COVID-19. These postings are available in English and Spanish. If you have questions regarding COVID-19 postings or any required postings please reach out to your loss control representative or contact us at losscontrol@mtmic.com. 

Today, I am reading the Governor’s Executive Order #152. I have read all 152 Executive Orders and want to be as up-to-date as possible when I talk with members. I must say that the Executive Orders are overwhelming, sometimes contradictory and difficult to understand. In my 49+ years in business I have never seen the environment being so fluid and challenging. We have all matured solving business issues, and now our experience and determination is being tested.

In the last three weeks I have visited more than a dozen customers. At each of these meetings information was exchanged, data updated and even a laugh or two. I can report that I left each meeting seeing that our members are doing all they can to keep employees safe and employed, eliminate hurdles and solve problems in the face of the current business environment.