Finalists Named for 2013 Excellence in Workers’ Compensation Risk Management Award

ORLANDO, Fla. - July 23, 2013 - PRLog -- Each year at the Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference (http://www.wci360.com/conference), National Underwriter  and the National Council on Compensation Insurance honor three organizations for their outstanding loss control, safety and return-to-work programs. The finalists for this year’s "Excellence in Workers’ Compensation Risk Management" are American Infrastructure Inc.; Aramark Corp.; and Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

The three finalists will be honored during the opening general session of the the 68th annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference, set for Aug. 18 to 21 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. Additionally, representatives from the organizations will take part in a panel presentation (http://www.wci360.com/conference/breakout-5a-on-workplace-safety) on Monday, August 19, from 1 to 3 pm, where they will offer insights into their individual programs.

National Underwriter offers previews of the three finalists:
American Infrastructure
With more than 1,800 employees in six states, American Infrastructure operates in the heavy civil construction industry and boasts $500 million in companywide revenue. Bridges, roads, treatment plants and pipelines span the spectrum of its projects, most of them major and each posing unique challenges and potential safety hazards.

Fostering a culture of safety—exemplified by AI’s “Home Safe Tonight” initiative—isn’t fueled by a desire to simply comply with safety regulations and hopefully contain workers’ compensation costs in the process: It is woven into the very fabric of the company. It is a philosophy that starts at the top and filters down to the boots on the ground.  

“It is inconceivable for any of us to believe that a commitment to any other standard of operation is acceptable,” says Risk Manager Schwartz. AI’s intolerance for incidents or injuries and a basic caring for every employee, he adds, “bleeds through in everything we do.”

The proof is in the results: A reduction in the injury rate by over 50 percent in just four years, and a drastic reduction in workers’ compensation loss rate per $100 of payroll in the past six years.

ARAMARK Corp.
ARAMARK Corp. has built its business on providing professional services, including facilities management, food preparation, and uniform and career apparel. Once challenged by a workers’ compensation incident rate of nearly 12, taking employees off the job and affecting the service they could provide, the company has since brought laser focus to its efforts in managing its WC costs.

Following a corporate-wide initiative to address the issue in 2004, a senior-level task force asked ARAMARK's risk management function to become the center of excellence for risk control and claims management. Nine years later, the company has undergone a cultural transformation that has improved worker safety, halved the incident rate and slashed claims costs. ARAMARK's initiative combined a new safety focus, involving both employees and partners, and new claims processes, including both workflow and technology.

"It wasn't just that our incident rate was extremely high, it was the realization that each of those incidents represented an injured co-worker," says Carla Wynn, Associate Vice President, Strategic Claims Management. "We committed to making sure that first and foremost our employees were safe."

Miami-Dade County School District
Miami-Dade County is the fourth-largest school district in the U.S., comprised of 392 schools and more than 50,000 full- and part-time employees. In addition to educators, the district employs food-service workers, janitors, painters and carpenters, bus drivers and mechanics, its own police force and medical professionals.  

The school district, whose risks are managed by former RIMS President Scott Clark, has seen great success through its Workers’ Education Rehabilitation and Compensation (WERC) program. Additionally, Clark and his team launched several key initiatives to manage workplace safety, setting a course to re-engage physicians to take ownership of the treatment of injured workers while charging the workers’ compensation adjuster with the responsibility for all aspects of the injured worker’s file.

Another major issue Clark has tackled in trying to contain workers’ compensation costs is dealing with physicians’ expenses for prepackaged pharmaceuticals, an area in which it has made great strides. The district and its TPA pushed for a bill that went into effect last July that has led to $3 million in documented savings of capping the way the district reimburses for prescriptions.

ABOUT THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE
Now in its 68th year, the Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference (WCEC) is the must-attend event for C-level executives, risk managers, claims adjusters, insurers, and medical and legal experts. Presented by the Workers’ Compensation Institute, the conference offers attendees an extraordinary opportunity to connect with their peers and learn from nationally recognized experts. The 2013 Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference will be held August 18-21 at the Orlando World Center Marriott.

ABOUT THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSTITUTE
The Workers’ Compensation Institute (WCI) is a non-profit, nonpartisan educational organization that serves all members of the workers’ compensation community—risk managers, insurers, brokers, agents, employers, employees, and claims, medical, and legal professionals. The WCI presents the annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference every August in Orlando. The WCI also sponsors and maintains a website, a LinkedIn account and a Twitter feed.