With years of safety experience and a focus on customer service, Synergy’s Loss Prevention staff will provide your organization with unparalleled, quality service. Reaching beyond routine inspections and recommendations, our Consultants will execute a tailored Service Plan for your organization to reduce accident frequency and minimize severity. Synergy believes that Workers’ Compensation losses are highly controllable by the employer. Our goal is to work closely with your company to optimize your Safety Program, increase productivity and boost employee morale. Our Loss Prevention Consultants focus time and effort in:

	Management Commitment to Safety: Unsafe behavior contributes to more than 90% of all injuries. It is essential for a management team to commit to developing and maintaining a safety culture throughout the organization.
	Hiring Practices: Effective hiring practices include a strong employee selection process, pre-employment drug-screening program and a comprehensive orientation.
	Risk Assessment and Loss Analysis: Analyzing previous injury records helps to identify factors that contribute to accidents.
	Hazard Control: A hazard control plan includes engineering controls, administrative controls, and personnel protective equipment.
	Accident Investigation: Synergy will train your supervisors to conduct the preliminary investigation.
	Return-to-Work Program: working with the employer and medical provider, Synergy will develop modified duty positions for workers who have sustained a workplace injury.
	Post Accident Drug Testing Program: your Loss Prevention Consultant can assist in establishing a comprehensive post-accident drug testing program.

Additional Loss Prevention services available to your organization include:

	Education and assistance in developing a comprehensive Safety Program
	OSHA-required safety training for both management and staff
	Participation in Safety Committee activities
	Program audits
	Detailed facility hazard assessments
	Online safety resources and materials

The cornerstone of long-term loss reduction begins with a comprehensive, practiced Safety Program. Synergy will assist your organization with the development and implementation of a model program. The items below describe the Best Practices inherent in a Model Safety Program:

1.	A formalized Early Return-to-Work (ERTW) program. By returning employees to a modified duty positions as soon as possible, they will feel valued and their morale will be sustained through the healing process. An effective ERTW program is also a cost control mechanism. Claim costs increase as the length of time out work for an injured employee increases. This increases the likelihood that an injured employee will remain out of work. Refer to our Early Return to Work page for additional information.
2.	Report any workplace injury to the Workers’ Compensation carrier the same day. Maintaining a good rapport with your Claims Adjuster will assist in controlling claims costs.
3.	Accompany injured employees to the treating physician. Discuss what modified duty options are available with the physician or a member of the treating physician’s staff.
4.	Implement a comprehensive drug testing program. This includes: Pre-employment, For-Cause, Random, and Post-Accident Drug Testing. Refer to our Post Accident Drug Testing page for additional information.
5.	Thoroughly investigate all accidents and near misses. Require the injured employee to participate in an Accident Review Committee or Safety Committee to determine root causes and corrective actions. Refer to our Accident Investigation page for additional information.
6.	Track all loss data. Require managers or supervisors to respond or offer solutions to upper management if their department has a higher loss history. Make changes to reduce the chance of accident recurrence.
7.	Audit safety activities. Many times these activities do not receive any attention and may become ineffective. A good example is to conduct an audit of lockout tagout procedures. Many times employees take short cuts and eliminate necessary steps. Numerous fatalities involve the accidental startup of machinery due to employee error.
8.	Conduct safety observations of employee behaviors. 90% of injuries are caused by employees failing to use safe work practices. Provide feedback, both positive and negative, during these documented observations.
9.	Implement a 5-S program or Lean Manufacturing principles. These principles go hand-in-hand with safe work practices. Companies using these principles have enjoyed cleaner and safer production areas and have reduced their losses. In many places, they also reduce the amount of movements necessary to complete a job task. In addition, these principles increase employee involvement. Many of the improvements result from employee suggestions. This increases employee involvement and the likelihood of “buy-in” to these changes.
10.	Request a voluntary OSHA inspection. Many companies have welcomed OSHA into their facilities to proactively control workplace hazards. Visit our Safety Resources page for additional information on OSHA compliance.