The Client and Its Challenge
A large regional beverage distributor with 14 distribution centers and more than 1,000 employees was experiencing high workers’ compensation-related costs. Despite the implementation of a variety of safety programs, losses throughout the company had not declined. To find ways to save money, the company needed to review its warehouse and distribution center operations, both at the corporate level as well as at individual sites. Additionally, the company wanted to ensure compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. Ultimately, to apply resources properly, the company needed to understand which operational areas required immediate attention.

The Risk Consulting Solution
Marsh’s Workforce Strategies practice performed a warehouse and distribution center gap analysis. This analysis involved an extensive review of company records, procedures, training materials, and documentation. Marsh team members also conducted a series of in-depth interviews with representatives from across the organization, including the branch or distribution center general manager and foreman as well as operations, safety, and hourly employees. Finally, the team performed a physical survey of each of the regional facilities.

The completed gap analysis examined 20 different loss control areas, from management commitment and loss analysis to personal protective equipment and physical plant equipment. The final report compared the client’s warehouse and distribution operations to industry best practices, providing a description of current conditions as well as recommendations and a roadmap for future improvements.

Results
With the information provided by the warehouse and distribution center gap analysis, the client was able to better identify areas for improvement and prioritize internal challenges. Analysis results helped employees from across the organization focus on critical company-wide, rather than perceived or local, needs.

The client also found that it had to update its formal documentation of safety programs and record keeping. Additionally, the distribution center training materials needed to be updated to meet new OSHA standards. With regards to loss prevention, the gap analysis indicated that ergonomic injuries were the number-one driver of workers’ compensation claims.

After the analysis, the management team realized that local ergonomic teams were not as effective and active as expected. As a result, the client is creating a new program that will provide additional structure and information on best practices to help the ergonomic teams be more effective at the local level within the individual distribution centers. From the gap analysis, this client has a solid understanding of where it needs to improve workers’ compensation-related programs and how to do it.