Florida Worker’s Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Safety Committee Affirms Strength of Existing Safety Programs

 

During a brief teleconference on April 25, 2013, the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association’s (“FWCJUA”) Safety Committee (“Committee”) voted to make no changes to its loss control and safety programs after hearing a brief update on the measures currently in place.

The meeting materials are attached.

It was explained that Florida law requires all FWCJUA policyholders to participate in a safety program, and that policyholders must acknowledge within 30 days of policy issuance or renewal that they will attempt to comply with the FWCJUA safety program.

Implementation of a workplace safety program is rewarded with a two percent safety credit toward the policyholder’s premium.  If policyholders create a drug-free workplace program that meets certain criteria, the FWCJUA further reduces the premium by five percent.

The FWCJUA’s existing program includes quarterly reminder bulletins promoting the safety-related premium credits, free “Travelers Safety” Webinars and “Travelers Risk Control” news briefs.  The FWCJUA expects to do a mass mailing soon that will illustrate the benefits of the premium credits, it was noted.

Meanwhile, the FWCJUA policy count continues to spiral upwards.

“The (FWC)JUA experienced tremendous repopulation in 2012 for the second straight year and early indications suggest the JUA will experience another year of significant growth in 2013,” a Committee member stated.

Another member of the Committee then reported the following policy-related highlights:

• Policy counts are up by almost 33 to 34 percent, with total policy premium up by almost 100 percent, rising from $9 million in 2011 to $17.9 million in 2012.
• The average policy size has increased by 50 percent; the minimum premium policy count has dropped by 23 percent.
• The service industry remains the primary source of loss prevention survey activity which comprises about 42 percent of all surveys completed in 2012.
• The total policy count of policyholders with a workplace safety credit or a drug free workplace credit has dropped within the last year.
• The number of claims has increased by almost 163 percent, with 116 claims in 2011 and 306 in 2012.
• The total incurred claim amounts has decreased from $5.4 million in 2011 to $2.3 million in 2012

(The majority of 2011 costs stemmed from two catastrophe claims totaling about $3.6 million, or about 70 percent of total claim cost)

Because an analysis of the loss control and safety measures currently in place produced no recommendations for change, the Committee voted unanimously to accept the existing programs as they stand.

With no further business before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned.

 

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