Supervisor Training Cuts Disability Claims: Study

Food plant supervisors in a test training program who were schooled in how to respond to injured workers cut disability claims by 47 percent and active lost-time claims by 18 percent, according to a new report.

Those findings from the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety followed a study of a supervisor-training program the institute created providing education for both management and supervisors to help improve their reaction to worker injuries.

The program also included suggestions for employee communication and problem solving skills to help get injured employees back to work.

The results were dramatic, according to the Research Institute.

"In this study, we saw a substantial reduction in injury claim frequency and disability. Supervisors clearly learned new skills and expressed confidence that they could better deal with these issues," William Shaw, lead investigation researcher at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute in Hopkinton, Mass., said in a statement.

Dr. Shaw noted that the strategy is effective in preventing disability for employers in industries with highly physical work demands. The program can be used to improve communication between supervisors and workers on work-related health issues.

Earlier studies from the Research Institute have shown that how a supervisor responds to reports of work injury influences whether an injured worker has a rapid return to work or prolonged disability.

In some cases, the impact of the supervisor's response on disability was more important than either the severity of the injury or the quality of medical care. Combined with the new study results, it makes a strong case for company investment in supervisor training, according to the Research Institute.

To assess the effectiveness of the selected supervisor-training program, researchers recruited 23 supervisors from a food processing plant's production department. Randomly divided in half, with 11 supervisors in an intervention group and 12 supervisors in a delayed intervention control group, each group was responsible for approximately 400 employees.

Both groups participated in a four-hour training workshop that emphasized communication skills and ergonomic accommodation for workers reporting injuries or health concerns.

For the study, however, the control group participated in the workshop seven months after the intervention group, according to the Research Institute.

The outcome measures for each group, compiled from workers' compensation claims data, included the number of new and existing claims, injury types, and total indemnity costs, the company said. Both groups received similar training to improve workplace ergonomics.

The intervention group showed a 47 percent reduction in the number of new workers' compensation claims filed after the supervisor training workshops, while the control group showed a 19 percent reduction in new claims during the same period of time.

After the control group finally took the workshop, a further 19 percent reduction in new claims was experienced--for a total reduction of 38 percent.

In both groups, the number of active existing claims remained fairly constant, the company said. Of the injury claims, more than half were work-related soft-tissue disorders, including sprains, strains, inflammations, carpal tunnel syndrome and other cumulative trauma.

The complete study was reported last month in WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation.