Travelers ID's Factors in WC Claims Rise

Travelers is out with its 2024 Injury Impact Report, which found first-year employees continue to be among those most vulnerable to on-the-job injuries while its the most common workplace accidents that are the costliest workers’ compensation claims.
The list of most common causes of losses of more than $250,000 is topped by overexertion, at 29% of the 1.2 million claims analyzed; followed by Slips, trips and falls (23%); and, Being struck by an object (12%).
The data show injured employees missed, on average, 72 days of work, one day more than indicated in the previous report.
“Factors such as inexperience, workforce shortages and maintenance issues are all contributing to these unfortunate and often avoidable accidents,” said Rich Ives, SVP of Business Insurance Claim at Travelers.
The report examined nationwide claims from 2017 to 2021. The findings were based solely on indemnity claims, where the injured employees could not immediately return to work and incurred medical costs.
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Chicago’s once-fraud riddled workers’ compensation system has been reformed, according to the first-of-its-kind audit by the city’s inspector general.
Former Alderman Ed Burke ran the agency for more than 30 years, until his January 2019 arrest and subsequent conviction on 13 charges of racketeering, extortion and bribery.
An audit ordered by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel found that, under Burke, the workers’ compensation fund had “significant control deficiencies and weaknesses” that could allow fraud, waste and abuse to flourish unchecked.
Officials in the city’s Department of Finance, which now run the WC system, have “substantially implemented the corrective actions recommended by that audit,” according to the audit by the Office of the Inspector General.
Meanwhile, Burke is set to report to prison next month to begin serving a two-year prison sentence.
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