Businesses encouraged to engage the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation

The Austintown Rotary Club welcomed Mark Clendenin, Regional Business Development Manager for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

Clendednin is the BWC’s business liaison for northeast Ohio, a territory that represents nearly 78,000 businesses in 16 counties. According to Clendednin, Northeast Ohio is the engine that drives the state of Ohio.

The purpose of Clendenin’s talk was to continue to increase dialogue between the bureau and the region’s businesses and to further Governor Kasich’s directive; to make sure the bureau does not put anyone out of business.

To the contrary says Clendenin, a proactive relationship with BWC not only prepares businesses for injuries and lost time, but can be a vital part of a companies continuous improvement strategies.

“You don’t know what you don’t know; businesses should use the bureau’s services, they’re paying for them,” said Clendenin.

Bureau support in areas like wellness programs and safety intervention grants can not only improve an organization’s ability to keep costs down, but also serve to build employee loyalty and morale.

Clendenin explained that once an employee is off work for 45 days, their probability of return is 40 percent and after 90 days, the odds decrease even more. To emphasize the dramatic financial impact of workplace injury-related lost time, he said that if every employee in the state [who was off for a work-related injury/claim] was able to return to work just one day earlier, the state could save nearly four hundred million dollars.

The mission of the Ohio BWC is to protect workers and employers through the prevention, care and management of workplace injuries and illnesses at fair rates. Clendenin stressed that achieving this goal, reducing costs for all businesses, and making northeast Ohio an attractive place for new businesses depends on a true working partnership between the bureau and the many businesses of Ohio.