Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) The purpose of
this rule is to establish minimum safety requirements for group experience and
group retrospective rating as provided by section
4123.29 of the Revised
Code.
(B) The bureau safety and
hygiene division, upon the request of the sponsoring organization, shall
provide assistance with implementing all of the provisions of this
rule.
(C) The primary or affiliated
sponsoring organization of a group experience or group retrospective plan shall
document its program to improve accident prevention and claims handling for the
members in the group with the group application, and, for an existing group
reapplying for group coverage annually, shall document the effectiveness of
prior programs and any proposed improvements to these programs. This analysis
shall include identification of the most common injuries among group members
and strategies aimed at increasing awareness and prevention of these injuries.
(1) A bureau division of safety and hygiene
loss prevention representative shall review the sponsor's safety requirements
annual report within sixty days of receipt. The safety and hygiene
representative shall contact the primary or affiliated group sponsor or its
authorized representative to assist in further developing appropriate safety
strategies if there are deficiencies in the report. All primary and affiliated
sponsoring organizations shall be required to sponsor a minimum of eight hours
of safety training during the rating year for members of their group. Training
shall be hosted by the sponsor or the sponsor's third party administrator.
Training should be designed in increments of at least two hours. Training
should be industry specific where possible. Webinars and online training hosted
by the sponsor will qualify to fulfill this requirement. The sponsor must
document the number of employers in attendance at safety training with a goal
of at least fifty per cent membership attendance. If the same agenda is offered
repeatedly in different regional sites, hour to hour credit will be granted. A
bureau representative may attend training to ensure the requirement is being
met.
(2) If an employer that
participates in group rating or group retrospective rating plan sustains a
claim within the
"green period," the employer shall complete
either of the following:
(a) The bureau's
online accident analysis form and the bureau's associated online safety class,
or
(b) Two hours of safety training
approved by the bureau. Such training can be offered by the sponsoring
organization, the sponsoring organization's third party administrator, or the
bureau.
The sponsor will notify members of this requirement and
maintain recordkeeping to track completion of this requirement. The sponsor
will submit to the bureau a list of members completing the training required by
this rule. The bureau shall reserve the right to request additional information
from the sponsor to ensure compliance.
(3) The bureau safety and hygiene division
shall make a recommendation to the bureau employer programs unit on whether the
group's safety requirements annual report is acceptable for the following
policy year. A copy of the recommendations and findings of the safety and
hygiene division shall be communicated to the sponsoring organization or its
authorized representative at the same time. The employer programs unit shall
consider this recommendation in making its decision whether to approve the
group rating application and at the time of sponsor recertification.
(4) The bureau safety and hygiene division
shall evaluate the sponsor's safety requirements annual report at the
sponsoring organization level and not at the individual member level. The
bureau safety and hygiene safety representative may conduct member visits to
confirm the sponsoring organization requirements are met.
(5) If the bureau's employer programs unit
does not approve a group for group rating based upon the sponsor's safety
activities, the sponsoring organization may request a hearing before the
adjudicating committee pursuant to rule
4123-14-06 of the Administrative
Code.
(6) Primary and affiliated
sponsoring organizations shall publish in the first quarter of the rating year,
for the knowledge of the members in their group, a safety accountability letter
outlining the group rating safety requirements and responsibilities of all
associated parties.
(D)
The sponsoring organization shall provide information regarding safety
resources to members in their group. Communication and education strategies of
the sponsoring organization may include use of the following strategies: web
sites, webinars, claims review and analysis, newsletters, seminars,
professional consultants, videos, personal contact, brochures, booklets,
manuals, identifying key personnel and training in safety management for the
sponsoring organization staff and/or its members. The bureau safety and hygiene
division representative will be added to all member distribution lists to
monitor safety education activity.
(E) Linkage of the group-sponsoring
organization with the division of safety and hygiene may include the following
strategies:
(1) The bureau shall link each
sponsoring organization with a service representative from safety and
hygiene.
(2) Safety and hygiene
shall assist the group with its development of safety strategies.
(3) Safety and hygiene and the sponsoring
organization may sponsor joint seminars.
(4) The safety and hygiene representative
shall provide a list of resources and expertise within each region upon
request.
(5) The sponsoring
organization shall promote bureau safety and hygiene services to its
members.
(6) Safety and hygiene may
provide training sessions and written safety and health materials.
(7) Bureau safety and hygiene division
consultation services may be utilized by member companies for customized safety
management assistance.
(8) Safety
and hygiene and the sponsoring organization may develop joint programs in
response to member needs.
(F) The division of safety and hygiene shall
schedule annual regional training seminars for sponsoring organizations. Each
sponsoring organization must send at least one representative to the seminar.
Additionally, the division of safety and hygiene shall develop a list of
publications and support materials that assist the sponsoring organization in
reinforcing the safety guidelines of this rule.
