b'Roofing Contractors, Workers Compensation Insurance and Profits: Making the Puzzle Pieces Fit By Cary Duke allows employees to be placed in aEmployeeswillgooneoftwo position that increases the opportu directionsran injury -afte suffering nity for injury. It\'snecessary fora q k returnto work,or a pronotuicsay the employer to"go up on thatlonged voyage through the maze of roof without the proper safetythe workerscompsystem (someprotectionplace and d take thetimes never to return at a ) Claims inon\'tlltime totie offtheladder"for themanagement is usually described employer to be at fault. In fact mereas aion of the in nce carfunct surail nsafestes enceinresponsetou rier adju r, the medical provider, behaviorcreatesa culturewhereetc. In fact,itisevencloser to supervisorsstartencouragingh Claims m t begins ome.anagemenunsafe behavior more frequently.with the hiring. Itinues process contB a conversation withanyThefrequency of u with thelturethroughout eginincreasednsafecu affected roofing con or with the wordsbehavior leads to injuries.the company from top management Just as claimstractworkers comp insu and prof T last 10yearshasseenadown. It iscommu tothe rancehenicated management beginsits in the same sentence and you\'llgreater awareness of safety and itsemployee with the activity (or lack probably be met witha confusedimpact on workers comp.E asthereof) surrounding safety. Tvenhen, with the hiringlook. Byallaccountsthosetwomoreemployersincreasesafety,whentheinevitable doesoccu~ doestopicsdonotgotogether.Forinjuries arestilloccurring. Susanwhatthe employerr steps doestake-process, so manycontractorstheexpenseofEdwards, President of HEC RoofingWhatistheperceptionofthe controlling thethe coverage islypathCompany,locatedinDallas,TXemployer\'s response to the injury? direct in the of the profit.states her company\'sexpe Will theemployee feel as if expense ofclaimsinjured workersCan an insurance agent help theriencehasgonedown,yetcoststhe company cou care less?Will ld comp insurance.contractor obtain greater profit?Ifkeep increasing.theinju employeebeleftto red so,how?Whatarethed versW leimprovements have beenswimtheconfusingandmurky ri hibehindworkerscompexpenses?made,OSHAstatisticsseemtowaters of the workers comp m ical edWho is ultima responsible forindicatethereremainsvast roomsystem without any assistance? tely ma ngeof workersfor improvement.First,OSHAThe r onse from the company nagi th expensehasespsat asde compen ion?The answerstodeemed the roofing industrytheand its attitu towards injuries at thesequestions willhelpbring5th most dangerous,to fatalitythstage is critical to claims mandueis abouta changein thethoughtstatistics. Second, 69% of a cita agement. They are al part llcrucia of process that will lead to more pr tionsgiven toroofersbyOSHAgood workers comp program mof anits forroofing contractor.occur withinthe top6 categoriesagemethent. Therealproblemwithworkersout of a tot of 76. Third, three ofJustasclaimsmanagement al nderstandingre egcompisa misu ofthese categories ALLlate to oneb ins with the hiring process, so whatworkerscompreally is.Ifsp ific hazardFallProtection.doescontrollingtheexpenseof ec ~ workersn is toaScaffolding, laddersdpro workerscompinsu nce.Infact, comp insura cebean headrano-faultprotectionforemployeetection are related totop 6contractorsconcernedwithfrthe otheraud injuriesand keepemployers fromcitations. In T alone there werecan combat it with the implementaexas unnecessarylitigation,agoodover6300citationsresultingintion of two small chan to their ges questiontoaskis: "Why are the$4.8ion in fines.thiring process. Ation offer mill Wha happenscondi al employees getting hurt in the firstafter youget a citationisjust asof employment and the implemenplace?"criticalcontrail ing work compt iona, pre-employ() toersat ofpost-offerMany employershave aninef expenseasa futureaccivoiding fectivesafetyprogram,whichdents.Continuednext page on 6. I'