Simple Concepts for a Complex System – Bulletin Board Notices

Editors Note: Mr. Zachry's "Simple Concepts" Series will be the subject of the next WorkersCompensation.com Hot Seat Webinar, scheduled for 1 PM Eastern, March 1, 2022. Registration will be open soon!

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Every employer has a bulletin board blizzard full of required and desired notices, posters announcements. The pamphlets, posters notices and leaflets may include company vacation days, elevator inspections, Federal wages and hours, State holidays wages hours, anti-discrimination,  County inspectors visit schedule, City requirements for cleaning the sidewalk, State or Federal OSHA injury reporting requirements, workers compensation medical providers, various insurance coverages, Anti-fraud, the refrigerator cleaning or bathroom cleaning schedule, food safety and the local number for the best and fastest pizza parlor.  

The company bulletin board is one of the common spaces in an office to which few know who owns the space and to which no one pays attention. I have seen posters and notices more than a decade old with the Workers Compensation Reporting poster, three companies out of date, and the recommended clinic long closed. 

I believe that the same people who read the implementation instruction manual for their VCR also read the posted information. In many ways, this is more of a compliance issue than a process that improves outcomes.  

Many of these notices are required by law and many have important and useful information.  Failure to comply in some states can result in fines and penalties.   

Company bulletin board compliance is an important “leading indicator” of a company that is on top of its game with regard to safety and compliance.  

While a VP at an insurance company and at a TPA, we printed our required notices and posters on colored stock by accident year.  2015 notices were on light salmon. 2016 posters were on light green, and 2017 on light yellow stock.  

If the employer was a construction outfit we laminated the notices and posters because we knew that they would be stapled to a large piece of plywood that was outside leaning against the fence.  It was our job to protect the employer to make sure that bulletin board compliance was correct and working.  We did not want to have a process where OSHA or any other oversight agency could fault and fine the employer.

The lightly colored posters stood out against the white and black background of all the other posters. 

If the underwriters, premium auditors, loss control/safety or claims folks, or even the broker was visiting the employer they could casually glance at the bulletin board and immediately know if the employer was up to date on the required posting notices.  If they were not, he/she could provide the latest notices.   

Internally we would also let underwriting know that this company had a severe case of “Bulletin Board Ignorance” which indicated that it was not really diligent in doing the simple and necessary safety tasks.  Lack of bulletin board compliance can be an important indication of a poor risk. 

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William M "Bill" Zachry is a Board member of the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, Appointed by Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown. He served 3 years as a Senior Fellow at the Sedgwick Institute. His term ended in January 2020. Zachry was awarded the Summa CompLaude award in November of 2020, the RIMS Risk Manager of the Year 2014, the CCWC Workers Compensation Professional of the Year 2016, Co-Chair AMICUS Committee California Chamber of Commerce. He is the former GVP Risk management Safeway /Albertson's Former Board Member California Self Insurers' Security Fund, former Co-Chair California Chamber of Commerce AMICUS committee Chair California Fraud Assessment Commission Zenith Insurance Company VP Claims HIH (C.E.Heath) (Care America) S.V.P. Claims. References