MTA Will Pay Consultant $13 Million In Bid to Limit Workers' Comp Costs.The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, seeking to cut workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. costs, has signed a 5-year, $13.8 million contract with DuPont Safety Resources. The contract for consulting, training and education services comes as a response to estimates that workers' comp comp See comparison. costs will climb 38 percent in the current, fiscal year, to $59 million, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Richard Braumbaug, chief financial officer of the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. . The MTA has seen rising workers' compensation claims for years, but the projected 38 percent jump would be a record. In fiscal 2001, ended June 30, the MTA lost 108,000 days of work from lost-time injuries, up from 96,000 days in fiscal year 2000. Braumbaug expects the contract to shave shave (shav) 1. to cut at or parallel to the surface of the skin. 2. to remove the beard or other body hair by such a process. 3. to cut thin slices from or to cut into thin slices. $125 million from a potential $300 million-plus in workers' comp costs over the next five years. The authority has the dubious distinction of having the highest workers' compensation costs of any city transit agency in the country, despite being smaller than New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Most of the claims are filed by bus operators, who make up the largest workers' group in the MTA. The 2,258 active buses in the fleet were involved in 3,500 traffic accidents in the last fiscal year, Braumbaug said. Three years ago the MTA signed with Travelers Group Inc., now part of Citicorp, for workers compensation insurance coverage. With coverage costs climbing, the MTA has gone back to self-insurance self-insurance, n the setting aside of funds by an individual or organization to meet anticipated dental care expenses or dental care claims, and accumulation of a fund to absorb fluctuations in the amount of expenses and claims. . The deal with DuPont is part of an ongoing effort to reduce c aims. Newark, Del.-based DuPont Safety Resources, a unit of E.I. DuPont De Nemours Co., has spent the last six years working with New York's transit authority. "What's very interesting is the MTA's lost-time injury rate... is at the same level the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. rate was at five years ago' Braumbaug said. "Maybe we haven't focused our attention on that issue like we should have. That's what brought it to our attention." DuPont Safety Resources will be paid on a performance basis, with quarterly reviews, and annual payments will be capped at $2.6 million. The group has sent a handful of consultants to MTA for a 45-day assessment scheduled for completion in mid-November. |
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