BWC News

BWC Begins ‘WAR’ Against Injuries on Five Fronts

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) is carrying out its plan, the Workplace Accident Reduction (WAR) program, for a war-like attack on workplace injuries.

BWC said the war begins with a safety/injury prevention campaign spearheaded by BWC’s Division of Safety and Hygiene, which provides research, education and free on-site consulting to all state-fund employers.

Once an injury occurs, BWC will follow a “five-point plan of attack”:

• Return to work, which should be determined and measured at an individual employee level.
• Presumptive authorization, which reduces the need for prior authorization of medical care during the first 45 days after an injury.
• Remain at work, which requires early intervention and close coordination among employers, MCOs and medical providers.
• Vocation rehabilitation services, especially if an injured worker has not returned to the job 30 days after the optimal return-to-work date.
• Transitional WorkGRANT$, a new BWC program that covers up to 80 percent of program development costs for employers that develop a transitional work program for their employees. You can access University Hospitals CompCare’s Transitional WorkGRANT$ fact sheet.