Rhode Island officials are taking steps to reduce injury claims after a local news report found that an unexpectedly high number of claims come from one state agency.

Michael DiBiase

A Providence TV news station reported that 7% of workers at the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, or BHDDH, were out on workers' comp claims this summer. That's almost double the percentage of other agencies' workers.

In the last decade, workers' comp costs have increased by $11 million for BHDDH and now top $30 million annually, the station reported.

Union officials and workers have said injuries are frequent because the work is dangerous and often involves lifting and managing violent mental patients who attack staff. But a state official said that while some staffers are out with injuries, others have to work more hours.

“This becomes a vicious cycle,” said Michael DiBiase, director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration, which oversees workers’ compensation for state employees. “If more people are out, we have to have more people do overtime, and the longer we push them — the harder we push them — the more prone they are to break down and have injuries of all different kinds.”

DiBiase hopes a new contract with Beacon Mutual Insurance will lead to a deep analysis of the injury claims and new safety training programs to help prevent injuries. The state signed a $3 million contract with Beacon in May to improve workplace safety and the claims process.

“I’m embarrassed to say we haven’t as a state done that as much, and we could have prevented a number of these workplace injuries simply by training our employees or having certain processes with respect to, for example, disruptive patients, to help people to avoid injuries,” DiBiase said. “I think Beacon will help us a great deal.”