Zenith insured a tropical fruit and nut company, which had almost a quarter of a million dollars in total incurred losses in five years prior to coming to Zenith. Losses primarily involved strains, cuts, and stuck-by injuries. In addition, problems were present concerning ergonomic issues, root cause investigations, and return to work.

Initial service plan goals included:

• An ergonomic survey of the facility
• Training on how to conduct proper accident investigations
• Formalization of a return to work program

Zenith recommended machine guards, reduce lifting exposures (from the ergonomic survey), and ways to prevent potential blindness from hot cooking oil splashing into eyes.

Return to work training was also presented to assist in the formalization of the program. The goal of these actions was to provide a coordinated approach to injury prevention, proper response to the injury after it occurs, and also assisting the employee in returning to work.

The results:

• Losses registered a low 1.66% in the first policy year compared to 4.03% in the year prior to Zenith coverage
• Three years into the policy with Zenith, incurred losses were only $7,587
• When the policy was written, the experience mod factor was 1.77, by the third year of the policy it had dropped to 0.99
  
• The policy holder has benefited from not only reduced losses, but a swing in premium from a high of $137,208, down to the current estimated annual premium of $76,798

During an initial Safety and Health visit, a Zenith policyholder expressed that their goal was to reduce the number of claims.

A Zenith senior Safety and Health consultant partnered with the policyholders’ management team to target accident frequency. The Zenith consultant made recommendations to prevent injury recurrence and reduce uncontrolled exposures. The policyholder invested time and financial resources to implement the recommendations and enhance administrative portions of their safety program to include department specific training and disciplinary program.

The consultant also made recommendations to improve the safety culture of the organization. Zenith provided Workers’ Compensation 101 training to all department managers and brought a Zenith Return-to-Work to Work director to meet with their management team.

The Results:

• The policyholder’s experience modification factor after three years decreased from 1.00 to .87
  
• Claims frequency per $20,000 in payroll has decreased by 30%
  
• Combined loss ratio for a three year period was only 6.45%

Exercise riders at a thoroughbred horse farm were experiencing severe injuries when they fell during training operations. In two policy periods, the policyholder had four severe fall injuries resulting in claims incurred costs of $468,495 -- almost $120,000 per claim!

A Zenith Safety and Health Consultant assisted the policyholder with the following:

• Monitoring the effectiveness of newly implemented hiring and screening practices
  
• Increasing supervisory accountability for workplace safety
  
• Establishing a formal return to work program

The results:

• No reported fall injuries from horses by exercise riders have been reported to date
  
• Zero workplace injuries have been reported for over a year and a half

A bathtub and countertop manufacturer experienced a 63% loss ratio during its initial policy period. The majority of these claims were manual material handling injuries.

Zenith Safety and Health partnered with the policyholder to prevent these types of injuries and also to address additional exposures. Zenith provided the following Safety and Health services:

• Evaluated manual material handling exposures in the plant
• Conducted an ergonomic assessment with a focus on loading/unloading of bathtubs and countertops
• Reviewed machine guarding and made recommendations

The Results:

• The policyholder installed conveyor work tables at proper work heights
  
• A 95% reduction in severity of manual material handling injuries
  
• A 3% loss ratio average for the two preceding policy periods

A Florida bakery ended its third year with Zenith with a loss ratio of only 13%. Before partnering with Zenith, loss ratios for the four years prior to coverage averaged 78%, with one year at 137%!

The bakery’s first year with Zenith was difficult, falls and machine related injuries were some of the main contributors to what had resulted in an unfavorable loss ratio. In addition to physical hazards, accident investigations were failing to determine root causes, and return to work practices were not utilized as an effective claims management practice.

Over the course of the policyholder’s first two years with Zenith, service teams focused on improving the employee safety culture, proactively enhancing safety proceses, and improving claims management practices, including:

• Accident investigation training
  
• Analysis on the bakery’s floor for slippage using a slip meter
  
• Safety training
  
• Machine safeguarding survey to increase employee awareness of machine hazards
  
• Modified cleaning procedures
  
• Upgraded floor surfaces
  
• Slip resistant footwear for all employees was purchased
  
• Barriers were installed on machinery

The Results:

• A loss ratio of just 13%
  
• A 91% drop in claim severity over the first year
  
• Claim frequency decreased by more than 70%
  
• Only three lost time injures were reported

A children’s themed hotel had many of its 800 employees (most of whom wear costumes of popular cartoon characters) suffering from a variety of problems -- from neck and shoulder pain to contact injuries from internal mechanisms.

Zenith partnered with the policyholder to prevent such injuries and also address additional exposures. As a result, the following actions were taken:

• Multiple sessions of Workers’ Compensation 101 seminars for all management and supervisor staff
  
• Slip tests were conducted at various areas of the facility
  
• A review of accident investigations with impromptu training
  
• Ergonomic survey was conducted with the employees wearing costumes
  
• Recommendations on minor redesigns of costumes’ internal mechanisms
  
• Properly fitting the costume to the employees

The Results:

• A combined loss ratio decrease from 32% in first policy period to 9% in second period