The City of Columbia, Mo.'smoney-saving efforts include increasingly concentrated attempts tokeep Workers' Compensation costs down, says Sarah Perry, the city'srisk manager for more than 15 years and a member of NU's RiskManagers Advisory Board.

Measures undertaken to that end include increased focus onwork-zone safety measures for any public employee working on aroadway: police, firefighters, road crews, mowing crews from theparks and recreation department, and utilities workers. “Work-zonesafety is [getting] a big push right now,” Perry says.

Columbia also is putting more emphasis on driver-safety measuresamong its public employees in order to prevent employee injuriesand save lost work hours.

Perry also notes an increase in law-enforcement liability suits.It's a trend she has come to recognize by the sheer number ofclaims that come across her desk and “how much time I have to spendwith attorneys.”

Perry attributes the increase to both the slow economy—“peopleare looking for money from somewhere”—and changing public attitudesabout law enforcement.

“There's not that automatic level of respect anymore,” she says,“and because of that, we are seeing a lot more police casesfiled.”

WC & THE ECONOMY

The economy has affected Workers' Comp in two ways, according toCindy Mallett, human-resources and risk manager for the city ofGainesville, Ga., who also currently serves as president of thePublic Risk Management Association.

First, higher health-insurance premiums, deductibles and co-paysmay encourage some employees who are “financially strapped andnegatively motivated” to resort to filing frivolous claims, Malletsays.

And second, some city employees don't want to draw attention ortake sick leave for fear of jeopardizing their jobs, so they're notreporting justifiable claims. “They're fearful,” she notes. “Someof that might be easing a little bit, but it's been a tough fewyears.”

On the pricing front in Workers' Comp, Mallett says: “The marketis starting to harden back up just a little bit. Pricing seems tobe increasing, though I haven't seen it in large percentages.”