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Workers' Comp Glass Half Full Despite Bad News and Losses

In today’s world of network news, cable news, talk radio and the Internet, we are bombarded with news from across the globe. However, have you noticed what the purveyors of news sell as "news"? Why is "news" almost always bad news? Why isn’t good news considered equally as "news"?

The world continues to spin and as a people, our lot in life is significantly better than at any time in history. This would indicate that there are many more people on this planet doing good constructive activities than those that are doing evil and destructive things.

I will avoid a tangent by summarizing the point with, yes we do need to know about certain bad events that occur, to stay current and to help us stay aware of potential dangers. However, it is a liability to us all to not get a balance of the positive news.

It is a fact that the bad news in this world is dwarfed by an abundance of very positive things that occur everyday. The attention to all things bad tends to create the picture that the world in general is a very dangerous environment and that there is little hope. This insidiously can dampen our morale and can cause considerable stress, which is not healthy.

What does this have to do with Workers' Comp?

Workers' Comp, by its nature, deals with negative events. An injury is bad news for the employee. Perhaps they can’t work or do normal activities of daily living for a while which is not good news. An injury claim is bad news for the company in a number of ways including loss of production and more money having to be spent. The Workers' Comp Manager has to deal with bad news concerning losing judgments, of having to continuously confront the opposing intentions of attorneys and others that may personally gain when more is paid on a claim.

Workers' Comp is a contentious environment where billions of dollars are up for grabs each year. Battles are continuously fought with some wins and some losses. If one is not diligent in keeping a positive frame of mind it can lead down a slippery slope to "half empty-ville" that can residually carry over to our off-work time as well.

 
Our Daily wins and successes must be acknowledged and our accomplishments must be personally validated. The wins define us, not the losses.

If you think about the paintings or art in your home you will find that they are pleasing to you in some aesthetic way. Chances are you don’t have pictures of the city dump in your living room! We need not hang bad pictures in our heads either. We have the choice as to what we decide to focus on, the negative or the positive. The successful and winning Manager focuses on the wins attained and the prospects of winning versus the reverse.

How about this picture for a Risk Manager in the Chicago area? He had shuttle bus drivers in several locations across the country hurting backs and shoulders while driving and lifting passengers’ luggage on and off the buses. These injuries happened randomly and hurt the profitability of the company.

 
Compare this to dealing with costly and contentious claims and you can see why this Risk Manager feels like he is winning!

Why deal with bad news when you can prevent it from happening?

We all need wins in our lives for a healthy state of mind. F.I.T. has certified trainers across the US and Canada available to help you and your company to win against workers' comp losses. By the way, if you miss a day of TV news, congratulations! You probably feel better!

We have over 1,200 Injury Prevention Specialists in North America to help you tell it! Please call us to discuss how we can help you to stop workers' comp spending and to help you show your employees that you care.

Dennis Downing, President
Future Industrial Technologies

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