Abe Tarawneh, Ph.D.;

Michael Lampl ,M.S., CPE;

David Robins; and

Don Bentley, PE, CIH

Injury and Claim Trends in the Ohio

Workers’ Compensation System

Use of Workers’ Compensation Data for Occupational

Safety and Health Workshop

Washington DC, June 19-20, 2012

Draft circulated for discussion purposes. The findings and conclusions in this presentations are

those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of any organization.

Overview

• Ohio

o Population: 7th largest

o Economy: 8th largest

o Manufacturing: 3rd largest

• Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation

o Largest WC state fund

o Sixth underwriter of WC in the nation

o Coverage for 70% of Ohio’s workforce

o Over 250,000 policies

o 1.2 million active claims

Frequency of claims

0

50

100

150

200

250

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Cla

im C

ou

nt

(Th

ou

san

ds)

Medical Only Claims (MO) Lost Time Claims (LT)

LT & MO claim count (2000-2009)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

30

-Mo

nth

Age

d In

de

mn

ity

and

Me

dic

al C

ost

s ($

Mill

ion

s)

Severity of claims LT & MO 30-month aged indemnity and medical costs (2000-2009)

Severity of claims

Optimal RTW

ICD9 Code

ICD9 Code

Description

Claim

Count

Claim

Count

Rank

Total

Cost

Rank

Average Cost/Claim

722.1 Lumbar disc

displacement

16,042 21 1 $57,860

847.2 Sprain Lumbar

region

106,927 2 2 $2761

840.4 Sprain rotator

cuff

13,372 26 3 $42,656

836 Meniscus of

knee current

11,329 29 4 $37,672

Optimal RTW

ICD9 Code

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

722.1 23 21 20 20 20 20 22 21 21

847.2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

840.4 32 28 27 26 24 24 24 23 22

836 40 33 32 28 29 29 28 24 25

Description of selected ICD9 codes (2000-2008)

Claim count rank between 2000-2008

Distribution of selected back, shoulder and knee

claims by causation (2007-2008)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Lumbar Disc Displacement Sprain Rotator Cuff Tear Medial Meniscus

Causation information for LT claims

Number of Ohio lost-

time Claims coded =

20,169

Caught In, On, or Between

4%

Contact with Temperature

Extremes <1 %

Fall or Slip 25%

Miscellaneous 18%

Occupational Disease

5%

Overexertion 25%

Striking Against Object

6%

Struck by Object

12%

Transportation Related

5%

2009 OSHA Recordables

Number of national cases with days away from work = 1,238,500

Fall or slip 30%

Overexertion 30%

Miscellaneous 14%

Struck by object 10%

Caught in, on or

between 5%

Transportation related

4%

Striking against object

4%

Occupational disease

2%

Contact with temperature

extremes 1%

2009 Ohio Lost Time Claims

Cost analysis

* 30 month aged with reserves

Lost Time

Claims

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2009 Average Claim Cost*

X $

10

00

Transporation Related

7%

Fall or Slip 34%

Occupational Disease

2%

Struck by object 10%

Caught In, On, or Between

5%

Contact with Temperature

Extremes 1%

Overexertion 27%

Miscellaneous 11%

Striking

against an objec

t 3%

Distribution of total cost

28.5%

17.7%

12.0% 11.8%

10.4%

4.9% 4.6% 4.5% 4.4%

1.3%

30.0%

16.9%

15.1%

11.1%

8.1%

5.5% 5.5%

2.9% 2.5% 2.5%

Liberty Mutual Data

Ohio BWC Data*

Overexertion

Fall on same level Fall

to/from diff. level

Slips

Struck by object

Transportation Caught in, on

or between

Struck against object

Other Violent act

Bodily reaction

Repetitive motion

Top 10 causes of lost time injuries in 2009

(% of total cost)

* Ohio data reflects total cost at 30 months with reserves (n= 20,360)

Causation information for LT claims

Caught In, On or Between

5% Contact With Temperature

Extremes 1%

Fall or Slip 32%

Miscellaneous 12%

Occupational Disease

2%

Overexertion 30%

Striking Against Object

4%

Struck by Object

10%

Transportation Related

4%

2010 Ohio Lost Time Claims

Total Number of Ohio

Lost-Time Claims

Coded = 15,367

Sub-causes of falls in LT claims (2010)

19.6%

14.1%

12.0%

10.4%

9.0%

8.0%

7.4%

6.9%

4.6%

3.1%

2.1%

1.2%

0.9%

0.7%

0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%

Ice/Snow

Miscellaneous

Water/Grease

Objects

Unknown

Stairs

Motor Vehicle/Trailer

Ladder

Outside Surface

Inside Surface

Cords

Curb

Roof

Ramp

Overexertion injuries by subtopic (2010)

In Lifting 38%

In Using Tool or Machine

5%

In Pushing or Pulling 16%

In Holding or Carrying 6%

In Reaching 3%

Bending, Twisting, Etc. 14%

Repetitive Motion 1%

Loss of Balance without Fall

3% Other 14%

n = 4,527

Overexertion injuries in lifting (2010)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Claim Count Cumulative %

What is being lifted?

Classification of claims based on nature of

injury (2009)

Fracture 7%

Dislocation 2%

Sprains & Strain 39%

Internal 1%

Open Wound 24%

Contusion or Superficial

23%

Crush 1%

Burns 3%

Number of categorized claims = 88,614

Head and Neck 10%

Spine and Back 12%

Torso 8%

Shoulder 7%

Arm 5%

Hand 30%

Hip 3%

Leg 7% Knee

5%

Foot 5%

Unspecified 8%

Number of categorized claims = 88,614

Distribution of claims by body region (2009)

Experience of SHARP companies

Claims cost and cost per $1.0 million for the 16 companies

$2,124,387

$900,077

$336,047

$17,041

$6,328

$2,461

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Before SHARP Working Toward SHARP After SHARP

Co

st p

er

$1

.0 M

illio

n P

ayro

ll (

$ T

ho

usa

nd

s)

Tota

l Co

st o

f C

laim

s (

$ M

illio

ns)

Claim Costs Cost per $1.0 Million Payroll

0.000

0.500

1.000

1.500

2.000

2.500

3.000

Hazard Anticipation andDetection

Hazard Prevention and Control

Planning and Evaluation

Administration and SupervisionSafety and Health Training

Management Leadership

Employee Participation

Before SHARP

OSHA Form 33 average scores for 16 companies by subcomponent.

Experience of SHARP companies