For many companies, worker’s compensation insurance premiums are a considerable expense. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to help reduce those premiums (including installing the right casters) and save thousands of dollars each year.

How to Determine Your Premium

Worker’s comp insurance is mandatory in almost every state. You’ve probably purchased a worker’s compensation policy yourself. For many companies – and especially for small businesses – these premiums are expensive and can take a toll on your business budget.

Three factors determine your premium: rate, payroll, and experience modification rate, or EMR.

  • Rate – A unique classification system assigned by a rating bureau determines your company’s rate. Your industry’s inherent risk is an essential factor. For example, A construction company would have a much higher rate than an eCommerce company because construction is inherently riskier.
  • Payroll – Total company payroll is divided by 100. Pretty straightforward.
  • Experience Modification Rate – This is also known as EMR. Based on your company’s claim history, EMR compares your company’s specific claim and loss rate by the industry’s average. The average number is 1. Anything less than that is considered safer than average, and anything higher than that is considered riskier than average.

To determine your premium, multiply your rate by your total payroll divided by 100. Then multiply the resulting number by your EMR.

The formula is this: RATE X PAYROLL/100 X EXPERIENCE MODIFER= YOUR PREMIUM.

Reducing Your EMR by Equipping Carts with Ergonomic Casters.

The only real factor you can control to help reduce your worker’s compensation premiums is your EMR. An on-the-job injury results in a filing of a worker’s compensation claim. This means your EMR goes up – and it stays up for at least three years with every incident.

Multiple claims mean considerable increases. And, as your EMR rises, so do your premiums.

Now consider this: About one-third of all worker’s compensation claims are due to overexertion. This makes it essential to find ways to reduce the exertion your employees apply when pushing and maneuvering a cart.

If your employees move carts and racks regularly, consider replacing your existing casters with ergonomic ones. Caster Concepts has a full line of ergonomic casters designed to reduce initial push force by an average of 25%. This small change can have a tremendous impact on reducing employee injuries. And that means reducing claims and keeping your EMR low.

Overexertion injuries result in worker’s compensation claims, and in turn, this drives up your EMR – a huge deciding factor for your premiums. By installing the right casters, you can save yourself a great deal of money by reducing these premiums for many years to come.

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