But what if an injury occurs within an organization with a strong safety culture, what happens then? It is this author’s contention that a culture of caring must be established in addition to an effective safety culture.

In the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) publication titled State of the Line: Analysis of Workers’ Compensation Results, author Dennis Mealy details trends within workers’ compensation. Mealy’s report estimated that workers’ compensation indemnity costs rose by 4.2 percent from 2003 to 2004, with the average indemnity claim costing $17,900 in 2004.