Hawai'i firms striving for safer workplaces

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Training for workplace safety is down, another casualty of the post Sept. 11 economy. And companies throughout Hawai'i worry that they'll be cited if they ask the state Labor Department's consultants to come in and help correct workplace problems.

Reinold Walser, warehouse manager for S and K Sales, dons a hard hat and safety belt when adding shrink wrap to boxes to be shipped to the Neighbor Islands. He also has the boxes placed on pallets so he can avoid bending over, which can cause injuries. Employers in Hawai'i are trying to incorporate such safety tactics in their workplaces. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"Employers, especially small employers, are screaming because they feel their workers' comp costs are rising and medical costs are going through the roof," said Jennifer Shishido, administrator for the Hawai'i Occupational Safety and Health Division. "Right now, employers in the state of Hawai'i just don't trust that we're not going to refer them to the enforcement side. ... We're hoping to build a bridge so they can get the help."

The eight seminars will bring together experts to talk about reducing workers' compensation costs, injuries and violations.

Rod Gomes, vice president and general manager of S and K Sales Co. at Campbell Industrial Park has already gotten voluntary inspections of the company's 50,000 square foot plant by the Honolulu Fire Department and Health and Labor departments. As a result, workers moved storage away from electrical panels, created more distance between food products and solvents and other chemicals and moved boxes that were stacked too close to the sprinkler system, which would have reduced the sprinklers' effect.

"We'd like to get an overview of what we should be doing," he said. "If you know the laws, what to look out for, then it will help us."

Since the 1980s, the number of workers' compensation claims in Hawai'i and throughout the country has dropped or remained flat.

"But what they call the severity, or the size of each claim, has gone up and has more than offset the decline in frequency, or incident rate," said Bob Dove, CEO and president of HEMIC, which insures 3,400 Hawai'i employers and collects $55 million worth of annual premiums. "In short, you're having fewer claims but they cost more. If the number of claims rises, then we're in real trouble. That's what everybody's worried about right now. The frequency (of injuries) can't decline forever."

From 1982 to 1988, the number of claims hovered around a high of 99 for every $1 million worth of premiums, said Carolyn Pearl of the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc.

From 1988, the number of claims per $1 million worth of premiums steadily plummeted to a low of 51 in 1998 and leveled off to 52 in 2000. At the same time, medical costs began to rise steadily — from an average cost per case of $6,463 in 1995, to $6,896 in 2000.

Dove will speak at the seminars on how small businesses can reduce workers' compensation costs. But he'll borrow a message from another speaker.

"One of the simplest things they can do is simply have good employee-employer relations," Dove said. "If there's a solid trust relationship and a solid respect relationship between the employer and employee, employees are less likely to miss work. And when they come back from an injury, they will return to productivity quicker if they feel valued and trusted."

Studies have shown that workplaces with bad employee-employer relations can see higher worker compensation claims and extended absences, Dove said.

"It turns out that a good relationship can show up in the hard costs, like workers' compensation," he said.

HEMIC has put on seminars for some of its clients. And other business groups have held similar sessions.

The scope of the sessions organized by the Department of Labor, Hawai'i Small Business Development Center Network, Maui Safety Association and Hawai'i Employers Council are "long overdue," Dove said.

Despite rising medical costs, Sheraton has seen worker compensation costs drop through training, Ogino said.

The housekeeping staff, for instance, has focused on the dangers of back injuries from repeatedly lifting mattresses to change beds.

"Even though we have a pretty good record," Ogino said, "I don't think there's any end to what we can learn."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.