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Workers’ comp safety shifts toward workplace systems, not blame
Despite fewer nonfatal injuries, employers are pushing for human and organizational performance programs, given that about 40% of injuries occur in an employee’s first year.
Workers’ compensation safety programs are moving beyond compliance and individual blame, with employers increasingly focusing on workplace systems that influence training, work design, and responses after incidents, according to Insurance Business. Nationwide senior consultant for workers’ compensation Phillip Maddox said the trend emphasizes improving system performance rather than determining who is responsible. “Human and organizational performance” practices center on leadership commitment, active employee engagement, and systematically identifying hazards both before and after an incident, he said.
The shift is occurring even as US workplace injury data show improvement. Private-sector employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024, down 3.1% from 2023, while the total recordable case rate fell to 2.3 per 100 full-time equivalent workers, the lowest level in the series dating to 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Insurance Business also noted that, despite underwriting gains, the underlying risk drivers remain. NCCI’s 2026 State of the Line put the private carrier calendar-year combined ratio at 91% for 2025 and said lost-time claim frequency declined 2%, yet about 1.8 million cases involved days away from work with a median absence of eight days, and Nationwide data indicate roughly 40% of worker injuries occur during an employee’s first year, increasing the importance of selection, orientation, and training.