Job-safety record improves

Friday, Nov. 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The number of Nevada businesses with poor job safety records is slowly decreasing.

The State Industrial Insurance System said there are now only 53 employers with excessive losses from on-the-job injuries. That compares with 500 listed in 1993.

SIIS Executive Officer Douglas Dirks said Thursday that is due to greater emphasis on safety programs and better management of medical claims.

"Employers are more aware of the need to make their job sites safe and to work with SIIS to lower their costs," he said.

In 1993, the Legislature overhauled the SIIS law and those employers with poor safety records were charged $1,000 per claim. SIIS at that time identified nearly 500 "excessive loss employers" who had more than 9,000 claims resulting in more than $73.5 million in losses.

Dirks said that meant that 2 percent of the policy holders were responsible for 15 percent of all claims and 23 percent of the total claims cost.

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