In Search of Wellness

During this session at the 2018 WCI conference, a panel of experts explore how risk managers can influence employee wellness through the entire life cycle of the claim and in the pre-incident and post-incident stages as well.

The panel included:

• Gregory J. McKenna, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Gallagher Bassett Services, Inc.(moderator)
• Brad Reese, Director of Risk Management, Asbury Automotive Group
• Paul Koziatek, CPCU, ARM, Coca Cola Beverages of Florida, Senior Manager, Enterprise Risk Management
• Marti Dickman, Vice President, Risk Management, Advanced Disposal, Inc.

When it comes to return to work programs, create a program where there is some type of modified work for every employee. There is always something around the office that a modified employee can do . This is great to boost morale for injured workers to make them still feel part of the company. This allows companies to show the employees how much they value them. There are some cases where the company does not have any modified work that they employee is eligible to do, so companies reach out to non profit companies.

Employers may not really know the personally dynamics of the employee. Some companies create a nurse case manager in house to help create a touch point for that injured worker and get them back to work. If companies can reach and learn a little about the employee’s person life, they can assess the employee and figure out how they can help the employee through this unfamiliar process. There might be some personal situations that inhibit the employee from being able to get to doctor’s visits, no support system or other family medical needs. Communicate that this is a benefit to the employee and you are not trying to just keep tabs on them and follow them around everywhere.

Continue to use technology to create better work environments and safer work environments. Companies are constantly taking a look at their ergonomics to see where they can modify the current way they are performing job tasks. Employee wellness is based off a five point axes including career, physical, social, financial and community. Each employee’s wellness is a combination of these different wellbeings.