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“An Accident in the Making?”
An interview with John Valente, author of Understanding Workers’ Compensation:
Managing Workplace Injuries and Lowering Costs

John W. Valente, author of Understanding Workers’ Compensation: Managing Workplace Injuries and Lowering Costs (Trafford, $29.95), recently was interviewed about his latest release. Valente, a workers’ compensation defense attorney from Vermont is a leading expert in the field. He regularly lectures and leads seminars on workplace safety and the tools needed to return injured workers to the workplace and reduce workers’ compensation insurance costs. His engaging, charismatic stage presence has drawn kudos from his peers and attendees to his presentations. Here’s why:

Why is this one of the few books ever written from the employers’ standpoint?
Valente: Most folks who’d try to write on the subject would end up falling asleep too often while writing and couldn’t finish writing the book. Actually, when I was researching whether to take on this project, I was surprised that most of my searches took me to books about what to do if you are the injured employee or where you can get a good lawyer. Other Web sites or books dealt with state specific issues or legal regulations. I wanted to create a straightforward, easy-to-read, short book that a business owner, a human resources professional or a floor supervisor could use to keep their workplace safer and return injured employees to work in a timely and safe way. The trick was writing it so they could stay awake while reading it.

How did you do that?”
Valente: This project started when I realized that I was giving training seminars and speaking on different aspects of workers’ compensation to different groups, each of which had different knowledge on the subject and different needs. One company might want me to come in discuss ways to make the workplace safer and how to improve it; another company wanted the supervisors to be trained as to how to investigate accidents and follow up on claims. I came to the realization that all these issues could logically be addressed in a book. But because they’re based on my seminars, they include stories to illustrate the points and I use pretty extreme examples when I could think of them. I try to include my insights from some of those stories. Finally, I include and explain the practical tools anyone can use to implement positive change in their management of workplace injuries before, during and after the injury occurs.

How did you decide what areas to cover in this book?
Valente: First I consulted with a Magic Eight Ball, do you remember those? Actually, it was easier than that. I thought first about why anyone would want to reduce workplace injuries, and when they did happen, why would a company want to get the injured worker back to work as quickly as possible. I thought, isn’t it just as easy to hire a new employee to fill the position? So that was the premise I started with: Why do we care about workplace safety? The first four chapters of the book discuss different answers to the question. They talk about what workers’ compensation is and why it was adopted in this country. It discusses the costs of workers’ compensation – not just the financial costs, but also the physical and psychological costs. There is a general discussion of the anatomy of a claim, which leads to the effect that litigation has on a workplace. So that’s where I started, at what I like to think is the beginning, why do we care about workers’ compensation claims. Once employers, managers and supervisors understand why we care, everything flows from there.

Where does it flow?
Valente: Downhill. Unfortunately, I am serious. Bad claims, bad injuries and bad misunderstandings can all become troublesome workers’ compensation claims. I discuss different issues that make claims worse, and I try to give examples, simple steps that any employer – no matter how big or small – can put into action in order to prevent problems from happening.

So, you go from why a business should care about workers’ compensation to what do when red flags go up?
Valente: Not so fast, you skipped a very important step, and about 38 pages of the book. Once we realize why we care about workers’ compensation, the first thing we try to do is avoid injuries from happening at the workplace. That is the first place to start: Let’s cut down on the number of injuries that occur and the severity of the injuries that occur. The first goal is no injuries. Maybe that’s a little unrealistic, because an injury is going to happen. So we focus on the second goal: no lost-time injuries. And so on. This book spends a good number of pages going through ways to take safety seriously. It emphasizes a safe culture and ultimately supplies some simple ideas to cut down on workplace injuries. They are simple tools.

So that’s when the book talks about all the gory injuries that happen at work where there’s lots of blood and oozing of body fluids and horrific injuries?
Valente: Sorry, there’s not really a lot of horror in this book. It’s the toolbox. In this case, gore doesn’t work as well. After a bad accident, folks at the job site make sure the claim is properly reported to the insurance carrier, who likely has a protocol for catastrophic claims, will ensure a complete investigation. This book spends a lot of time on the little things that can add up to big costs later. We handle every claim, no matter how minor it seems, just like a catastrophic claim. We ask the same questions, conduct the same interviews, obtain the same evidence and information. So the discussion in the book is more about what an employer can do. That’s where the value is. I’ll make sure the second book has the gore.

Fine, John. After a claim is reported, and the employer helps investigate it, that’s where their input ends and is that how the book ends?
Valente: It doesn’t end there by a long shot. There is big emphasis on returning an injured employee to work as quickly as possible to a safe position. And the book discusses some return to work strategies, as well as steps that can be taken to keep the injured employee’s spirits up while they’re away from work.

Who is the target audience for this book?
Valente: Target audience sounds very marketing guruish to me. It’s written from the standpoint of the employer, so anyone who has an interest in keeping claims’ costs down should derive some benefit from this book. A small company owner, the human resources folks at midsize companies and large companies all could benefit in some way. It’s pretty simple, straightforward and it won’t take four weeks to read. I think anyone interested in workplace safety and getting employees back to work safely will find something in this book for them. Really, it’s for everyone. It’s a resource that anyone in business or studying business can use.

So how do you characterize the book?
Valente: This is a self-help book for anyone hoping to have a positive effect on their workers’ compensation outcomes. As a person who left one of my seminars once said, “It’s part Tim the Tool Man Taylor, with one construction tragedy after another, and it’s part Dr. Phil, with positive affirmations that we can make a change in our financial and psychological costs by taking steps to control what happens during the life of a workplace injury claim.” I have to agree with her. Look for it in the bookstore right between the Dahli Lama and an outline of six sigma. Actually, you can see if it’s in the store’s business section. If not, go online to Trafford.com, Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com, they all have it. Trafford even has group discounts. The suggested retail price is $29.95. Anything you want to know, except for those gory case studies, is available on my Web site, understandingworkerscomp.com. Remember, what you have to lose by not investing in this book could be substantial.

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