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With the BWC touting “safety” in every program it offers, it’s easy to be confused about which program provides which benefit is to employers.
Safety Council Rebate Program: Employers get a rebate of their premiums when they join the local Safety Council, attend monthly meetings and provide injury statistics to the Council every six months. Rebates are good.
Drug Free Safety Program: This program replaces the Drug Free Workplace Program. Employers get a 3%, 4% or 7% discount stacked on top of their experience modifier (EM). There is paperwork that costs time & money to prepare and implement, although “DFSP employers may apply for reimbursement for specified start-up costs for the first two years of DFSP program operation.” Go to http://www.ohiobwc.com/employer/programs/dfspinfo/dfspdescription.asp for more information. The real downside is that employers will be prohibited from paying salary continuation for claims with dates of injury 1/1/2011 and later. See previous blog post RED FLAG Drug Free Safety Program for examples of how much the premiums are reduced by the discounts.
Group experience rating: This is still the best way to reduce premiums, but each employer has to meet various criteria and deadlines. The BWC now requires 2 hours of safety training on-line or in person for companies participating in group rating.
Group retrospective rating: The 7/1/09-6/30/10 policy year is the first for this program. Employers pay their individual premiums. At the end of 12, 24 and 36 months, the group experience is analyzed and employers either get a rebate because the group performed well, or they get a bill for more premiums due to poor group performance (too many claims). There does not appear to be a safety training requirement for employers in this program, but employers can participate in the Safety Council Rebate Program.

The deadline for enrolling in the Drug Free Safety Program is June 30, 2010. The program used to be called the Drug Free Workplace Program, but is has been renamed to alert you that the program has changed.
RED FLAG: If you enroll in the Drug Free Safety Program starting 7/1/2010, your company cannot pay salary continuation in any claim with a date of injury of January 1, 2011 or later.
The good news is that a company will be able to stay in the program longer than the current 5 years – at least until the BWC changes the program again. If your company was in drug-free and was eliminated after 5 years, it can apply again. There are 2 levels, Basic and Advanced.
Basic level: 4% discount for non-group experience rated employers. The components are similar to the current program, including written policy, testing, education, training and assistance, and the hourly education and training requirements have been reduced. A safety review, and supervisor accident analysis training and accident reporting have been added. If your company will receive a group experience rating discount, it will not get an additional discount for the Basic level.
Advanced level: 7% discount for non-group experience rated employers. Your company must meet all requirements of the Basic level plus 15% random drug testing, safety action plan and a second chance after first positive. A group experience rated employer can stack up to 3% on top of the group discount, as long as the total discount is equal to or less than the maximum discount (currently 49%).
Is a 3%, 4% or 7% discount worth the paperwork hassle and the inability to pay salary continuation?
Here’s an example. A company has yearly payroll of 3.5 million dollars. Without group rating, its EM would be 120. If it enrolled in the Advanced level, its EM would be 113 and its premiums would be $7,400 lower. With group experience rating, its EM will be 83. Enrolling in the Drug Free Safety Program would lower its EM to 80, and reduce its premiums by $3,000. Are those savings in one year worth giving up the ability to control its claims costs in lost time claims?