As an insurer, the last thing you want to deal with is expensive workers' compensation claims. According to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), slips and falls are the third most expensive type of claim (costs an average of $24,000 per claim) behind motor vehicle accidents and burns.
But what if there was a way to reduce your client's slips and falls by over 50%? That's the promise of corporate footwear programs — and why insurance companies love them.
With the right shoes, your clients will see fewer workplace injuries, and you will deal with fewer workers’ compensation claims and their associated costs.
What is a corporate footwear program?
A corporate footwear program is a partnership between a slip-resistant footwear (SRF) provider and a company with employees who are at risk for slips or falls. The three most significant benefits of having a corporate safety footwear program are strengthening a company's safety culture, decreasing annual workers' compensation costs, and providing full foot protection.
Depending on the type of corporate footwear program, there is cost-sharing between the employer and employee. There are four program options companies can choose from:
Small Business Program
The Small Business Program is a self-service option that has employees pay for their own shoes via credit card. Participation will be minimal (likely under 20%), which means a minimal decrease in slips and falls.
Voluntary Payroll Deduction
With a Voluntary Payroll Deduction program, employees pay for their own shoes through installments deducted from payroll. Payments can be spread over multiple payroll cycles. It has been found that participation in this program experiences an increase of 20%-40%. In this case, they can reduce slip & fall costs by up to 30%.
Company-Subsidized Program
In a company-subsidized program, companies partially underwrite the cost of shoes, and employees pay any amount above the subsidy that shoes cost. When this program is implemented, a 55%-70% participation rate is expected, which can correspondingly reduce slip and fall costs by up to 55%.
Company Paid Program
A Company-Paid Program is among the most effective and, therefore, most popular. It has the highest participation level (up to 100%) and can reduce slips & falls costs by up to 80%. Note that it is impossible to get rid of 100% of slips & fall costs since they can happen for reasons outside of footwear, such as with new employees who require training or cases where staff trips on equipment. Accidents happen, and in most cases, they're inevitable. The right footwear program, however, is the best defense in preventing avoidable accidents from happening.
How much can company-paid programs reduce workers comp claims?
When the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NOSH) wanted to study the safety impact of company-paid corporate footwear programs, they chose Shoes For Crews as their exemplar of a "five-star" SRF provider. Scientists involved published the study in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health of 9,046 food service workers across 19 states.
When employees' shoes were paid for by their employer, there was a 67% reduction in slip injury occurrence. The control group (participants not wearing slip-resistant footwear) experienced a 14% increase in slip injury probability.
And this isn't the only example of Shoes For Crews® decreasing the probability of slip and fall injury for businesses. These cost savings have been realized in multiple industries, from educational institutions to quick-serve restaurant brands.
How much can a company-paid program save insurers?
The simple answer is a lot, but to be more specific, let's take a look at Holiday Retirement.
Holiday Retirement found themselves paying $635,000 in annual costs due to slips and falls. When both indirect and direct costs were calculated, the claims cost was approximately $1,880,854. This made it abundantly clear that it was time to find a new slip-resistant footwear provider.
Enter: Shoes For Crews.
Shoes For Crews provided company-paid footwear to all of their approximately 12,000 employees. In the months that followed, the number of slips and falls plummeted. The difference was day and night.
The results for Holiday Retirement were incredible. They saw an average of $600,000 annual savings on slip and fall claims. As for Holiday Retirement's workers' comp provider... can you imagine how much they saved?
How to Convince Your Clients to Partner with Shoes For Crews
First, it's crucial that you emphasize the cost savings on workers' comp expenses. In direct U.S. workers' compensation costs, the 2021 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index reported as much as $59 billion for serious but non-fatal workplace injuries. If Shoes For Crews’ footwear could prevent them from paying out even a small fraction of that cost, wouldn't they do well to participate? And, according to academic studies, they can. So, it's a win for them as well as a win for your company.
Maximize your savings by maximizing clients’ savings with a company-paid corporate footwear program. Get in touch with the Shoes For Crews team to learn more about programs options and the substantial difference they will make in employee safety.