The Client

A large lawn care and landscape contractor in North Carolina. They have approximately 250 employees, statewide.

The Challenge

We’ve enjoyed a long term relationship with this client and they’d been very successful, earning dividends on the their worker’s compensation for many years. They’d consistently maintained a very low experience modification factor which allowed them to acquire attractive new projects as well as retain existing customers. Several years ago we noticed a spike in their worker’s compensation experience mod due to claims activity that was both frequent and severe. We also noticed automobile claims, especially those involving large payouts to claimants, were also on the rise. We’d been offering quarterly loss control meetings for supervisory personnel for many years, but we recognized we needed to do more.

We added a claims review session to our quarterly meeting for the owners and managers of the company and partnered with them on the common goal of encouraging and promoting safety in the workplace. Our expected outcome was to reduce claim frequency and severity, ultimately reducing their cost of insurance and making them competitive among their peers when bidding new work and retaining existing customers.

The Solution

To supplement the quarterly meeting we initiated the following solutions:

Training
Our in-house loss control team provided training for employees throughout the year, including the following:

• Slips, trips, falls
• Safe driving
• Defensive driving
• Lifting (material handling)
• OSHA 10-Hour
• OHSA-30 Hour
• Heat related illness and injuries

Driving
We helped them acquire services from a national firm to improve fleet safety. Stickers placed on the bumper of each company vehicle provided an 800 number where anyone who observed poor driving habits can call and report that observation. (The client immediately receives an alert and can identify high-risk drivers, repeat offenders and provides a scoring method for documenting driver files.)

Motor Vehicle Reports
We provided guidelines for assessing their motor vehicle reports (MVRs) and they now orders these reports for all new hires and annually for Department of Transportation files as required.

Analytics
We implemented analytics from a third party vendor to offer a worker’s compensation cost control system. It tracks claims reserves and their ultimate effect on the experience mod.

Safety Equipment
We helped them acquire proper safety equipment, specifically ear plugs and safety glasses.

Program Changes
We instituted deductibles on all lines of coverage, especially workers compensation, promoting partnership between our client and the insurance companies.

Drug Testing
All employees are now tested, both pre-employment and post accident. Random testing is also an option if drug use is suspected.

Hiring Practices
We instituted a 90 day probationary period for all new employees and a revised employee handbook.

Safety Huddles
Supervisors now lead team meetings at the beginning of each day to identify potential problem areas or hazards they might encounter on jobsites that day.

Vehicle Maintenance
Every company vehicle is checked daily before leaving the premises to make sure all equipment is in working order.

Analytics
The client has partnered with their insurance carrier for an online tool that will enable them to quantify safety improvements and turn audit results into track-able action plans.

The Result

Their worker’s compensation loss ratio has decreased from a one-time high of 300% to the current year loss ratio of 40%. Their overall total loss ratio for all lines combined has improved 25% in the two years. We’ve been able to maintain all their coverage with one carrier and there have been no automobile losses in the past 12 months.

As a result of our partnership, they now have an increased awareness of how claims affect their profitability and we continue to look for new ways to improve every day.