Workers’ Comp Claims Higher Among Those Who Have Filed Previously

Workers who return to work after a lost-time injury are more than twice as likely to file another workers’ compensation claim for a subsequent injury than other workers at the same company, according to a study by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute.

The study, Predictors of Multiple Workers’ Compensation Claims in Wisconsin, found that in the period studied more than 30 percent of workers’ compensation claims filed were from workers with prior compensable lost-time claims.

The study reported that 34,000 of the 107,000 workers in Wisconsin who filed claims in 1989 or 1990 – 32 percent – filed at least one more claim by the end of 1993.

“The study shows that lost-time claims may have far-reaching consequences,” said Victor. “For injured workers, there is the increased risk of future injuries,” he said. “For employers and insurers, cost is also an issue as they need to recognize that the complete cost of an injury includes the increased potential for subsequent claims. And both worker safety and system costs are critical concerns for public policymakers.”

Contrary to conventional wisdom, returning to the same work and the same employer often was associated with a greater likelihood of a second claim. The study noted that workers who stayed with the first-claim employer were as much as 26 percent more likely to file a second claim than workers who later worked for a new employer, according to the study.

Regardless of the part of the body affected by the initial injury, second-claim injuries were not a direct consequence of first-claim injuries, it said that they were not simply aggravations or re-injuries. The study also pointed out that workers who received temporary disability benefits were more likely to file a second claim than workers with permanent disabilities.

In addition, the study reported other results more in line with conventional wisdom: ·

Blue-collar workers were most likely to file a second claim;

Younger workers and those with less job tenure also filed subsequent claims more often, suggesting the value of training and physical conditioning to prevent initial injuries and reduce the risks of subsequent ones. ·

Workers in companies with high claim rates were more likely to file a second claim;

Workers with sprains, strains and bruises had higher second-claim rates.

Topics Claims Workers' Compensation