RD398 - Workers’ Compensation Program Status and Recommendations of the Loss Control Program Fiscal Year 2017


Executive Summary:
Objective

The report provides an update on the status and recommendations to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Director of Planning and Budget of the loss control program based on the annual review of each state agency’s loss control history, including the severity of workers’ compensation claims, experience modification factor, and frequency normalized by payroll.

Status

The Department of Human Resource Management received authority effective July 1, 2015 to establish a loss control unit within the Department’s Workers’ Compensation Program. Since then, the program has

• Worked with the Program’s actuary to identify agencies with the most adverse loss history; agencies included in each of the three studies completed in FYs 15, 16 and 17 are:

o Virginia State Police
o University of Virginia Medical Center
o Department of Juvenile Justice
o Mental Health Treatment Centers
o Department of Veterans Services
o Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control

• Conducted loss control hazard surveys using the program’s contracted loss control service at each agency identified by the actuary in FY 15 and 16;

• Completed an updated actuarial report entitled Workers’ Compensation Experience Statistics by Agency based on reported losses as of June 30, 2017 (attached.) The agencies identified with the most adverse loss history in the updated report are:

o Department of Motor Vehicles (included in actuarial reports in FYs 16 and 17)
o Virginia State Police
o University of Virginia Medical Center
o Department of Juvenile Justice
o Mental Health Treatment Centers
o Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (new)
o Department of Veterans Services
o Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control

• Identified and hired two individuals who met criteria for each of the two types of positions;

• Worked to develop a template designed to guide the assigned DRHM consultant and the identified agency through an evaluation of loss control programs currently in place and help develop the roadmap for future enhancement efforts.

Recommendation

The recommendation is to

• Complete loss control surveys of the state agencies added in the most recent study as identified by the program’s actuaries while the new staff completes orientation and review of previously completed loss control surveys and loss runs; and, based on the results,

• Develop agency-specific action plans and consulting work to reduce the frequency and severity of workers’ compensation claims; and

• Introduce the consultation resource to the selected agencies and identify a lead staff member at each selected agency to begin the consultative process.