08/03/2021

Import Updates from the BWC

Source: Sedgwick, August 2, 2021. Bureau of Workers' Compensation, August 2021.

Important Deadline

August 13, 2021: Private employers are required to file the 2020 rate year True-Up report and submit payment (if monies owed) by this date.

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BWC Group-Rating Safety Accountability

Each year Ohio employers have the opportunity to participate in BWC’s Group‐Experience‐Rating Program or Group‐Retrospective‐Rating Program. While these programs are not required, they do provide you with an opportunity to significantly reduce your workers’ compensation premiums, while increasing your awareness of safety and risk‐management strategies.

Workplace safety is an important component of these programs. To succeed in accident prevention, we encourage you to use the many resources available to you. We believe a group‐rating program is a partnership that includes you and your employees, your sponsoring organization or a third‐party administrator (TPA) and BWC. Each has specific roles and responsibilities, all designed to assist in preventing workplace accidents. This letter outlines the safety services expectations you should have as an employer enrolled in a group‐rating program.

The employer will:

• Maintain a safe workplace
• Attend safety training to enhance workplace safety
• Use BWC’s safety services as needed
• Fulfill the required two‐hour training requirement and provide proof of attendance to sponsor for claim(s)
  occurring within the last year.

The certified primary and affiliated sponsoring organizations will:

• Sponsor eight hours of safety training (this may be done at one time or may be provided incrementally as long as the total is at least eight hours)
• Provide information regarding safety resources to group members
• Possibly assist an employer in achieving its safety needs
• Manage employer fulfillment of the two‐hour training requirement, where applicable
• Publish this letter to group members

The TPA may:

• Assist sponsoring organizations with fulfilling the group‐rating safety requirements
• Assist an employer with its safety needs
• Work in conjunction with sponsors to develop safety training and deliver safety resources
• Provide resources for claims handling

BWC will:

• Monitor all group‐rating safety activities to confirm requirements are met
• Remain in communication with sponsoring organizations to provide recommendations for fulfilling safety requirements
• Provide safety training through Ohio’s Center for Occupational Safety & Health
• Offer on‐site safety consultation (hazard assessments, air and noise monitoring, ergonomics evaluation, training) by a BWC safety professional
• Offer publications and videos for safety program support
• Conduct employer visits to confirm the employer is meeting group‐rating requirements, when appropriate.

The goal of this collaborative effort is to make sure all your safety needs are met. Using these resources will assist you in preventing accidents, reducing claims costs and achieving the highest discounts possible.

View the full Accountability letter

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OSHA Issues Emergency Temporary Standard

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for healthcare and updated guidance for all industries. This healthcare ETS applies, with some exceptions, to settings where any employee provides healthcare services or healthcare support services. The ETS is aimed at protecting workers facing the highest COVID-19 hazards—those working in healthcare settings where suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients are treated. This includes employees in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities; emergency responders; home healthcare workers; and employees in ambulatory care facilities where suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients are treated.

It does not apply to:

• First aid performed by an employee who is not a licensed healthcare provider
• Dispensing of prescriptions by pharmacists in retail settings
• Non-hospital ambulatory care settings where all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter those settings
• Well-defined hospital ambulatory care settings where all employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter those settings
• Home healthcare settings where all employees are fully vaccinated and all non-employees are screened prior to entry and people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not present
• Healthcare support services not performed in a healthcare setting (e.g., off-site laundry, off-site medical billing)
• Telehealth services performed outside of a setting where direct patient care occurs

View full guidance on the emergency standard

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The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) offers Better You, Better Ohio!™ 

This is a program designed to provide health and wellness resources and services to workers who work for small employers (250 or fewer workers) in high-risk industries*. Better You, Better Ohio! helps workers and their employers at no cost and through a simple, paperless process.

Employers can reap great benefits from having a healthy workforce. Healthy employees are less prone to injury. And, when they are injured, their ability to recover is enhanced greatly. Overall, employers with a healthy workforce have lower workers’ compensation and healthcare costs.

Better You, Better Ohio! can:

• Help prevent injuries through improved workforce health and safety
• Reduce absenteeism and improve presenteeism
• Reduce the severity of an injury
• Improve the recovery time from an injury
• Reduce time away from work due to an injury

View more information on this program