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Multiple Workers Compensation Injuries

mtrokeymtrokey 5 Posts
in FMLA/ADA/Workers’ Comp Vote Up0Vote Down
We have recently had some employees with multiple workers compensation injuries, with most of them being really questionable.

do you know if we can put together a policy for employees who have multiple workers compensation injuries. Something along the lines of if an employee receives more than 1 injury with in a certain period of time, the employee will have to go through some type of mandatory safety training or something like that.

I guess my question is does anyone have a policy for multiple workers compensation injuries?

Please advise.

Thanks,

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  • 4 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • BalloonmanBalloonman 972 Posts
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    If the injuries involve unsafe acts, or you just want to require the re-training to those that get injured there is no reason you cannot. If anyone says oh you are picking on me/them, just indicate no, we are concerned that they did not retain the safety training they received, we do not want them to be injured again so we are going to re-train them.
    My $0.02 worth.
    DJ The Balloonman
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  • Don DDon D 9,834 Posts
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    In some states there is no such thing as 'workers' comp retaliation'. In others, there is. I would be cautious not to make training mandatory (punitive) for such injuries as are clearly not within the employees' control, such as: slipping in water or other liquids that could not be seen, something falling on somebody, being injured as a result of the unsafe acts of others and unavoidable injuries that perhaps were caused by the company. Rather than addressing the training requirement as a response to workers' comp claims, I think you should approach it as a response to clear unsafe act violations, regardless of comp.

    Separating the safety violation from the comp paperwork would put you in a more compliant position, I think. I would rather tell a comp hearing officer, "I required her to sit through 4 hours of refresher training for three safety violations in a one year period of time", than, "I made her sit through 4 hours of training because she filed two comp claims."
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  • WOCO FrankWOCO Frank 496 Posts
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    >>such injuries as are clearly not within the employees' control, such as: slipping in water <<

    I've paid on two claims that involved the employee slipping on the floor WHILE MOPPING IT, and another in which the injured party slipped and was not hurt by the floor itself, but received cuts from falling on the WET FLOOR SIGN !

    So I never presume that a slip and fall is not within the employee's control.
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  • Don DDon D 9,834 Posts
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    I think my quote was 'slipping in water that could not be seen', implying that the slipper was not responsible for or aware of the water. My main point is that it is most unwise and often illegal to apply punitive measures to employees for filing workers' comp claims. Juries and hearing officers would have a field day.
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