Class IV and Class XIII Newsletter Q2 - Issue 2

1 June 2019 marked a momentous milestone for RMA when we celebrated our 125th birthday anniversary. “Reaching our 125th year milestone, has made me proud of the successes that we have achieved as a group. Through our diversification strategy we have successfully created the foundation for longer-term sustainability so that RMA may continue to offer Caring Compassionate Compensation well into the future. I am proud to declare that we have surpassed another record as SA’s leading administrator in occupational injuries and diseases for the mining and metals industry,” said Mr. Bisnath Singh, Chief Executive Officer of RMA.

A warm “Thank you”

Thank you for entrusting us in looking after your employees’ lives. Your ever-changing needs and feedback have afforded us with an opportunity to continuously strive to increase value on our products and services offering. Not only have you made us a part of your lives but additionally helped us make a difference in our claimant’s lives.

Thanks to our employees

We are also thankful to our employees for making a meaningful contribution to the success of RMA. We’ve had numerous accomplishments and successes, particularly from the past years which proved to be extremely successful for us.

Check out our milestone video here.

 

We are dedicated in providing you with the best customer experience possible, and our new processes are designed to optimise the claims capture process to reduce the time it takes to process a transaction. For example, when electronically capturing a claim event, processing the transaction and accepting liability now occurs quicker and easier keeping you updated throughout the process.

We know that when you need to submit a claim, you need to do it quickly and easily. That’s why we have enhanced our systems with an innovative, automated mechanism called Straight Through Processing (STP), the automated adjudication of minor injury claims process. STP is the digital integration of the claim’s ecosystem, and implementation of a new digital operating model, that needs no human intervention for a claim.

The adjudication of minor injury claims is now highly automated, reducing the time it takes to process a transaction. You can now access an improved self-service option where minor claims will be processed seamlessly should certain criteria be met. This also means that claims will be paid within 24 hrs and medical service providers will be paid quicker.

The digitalisation of the claim’s adjudication process will:

To ensure that you are up to speed with the improvements, we’ve put together a helpful user guide and simulator that will take you through the process step-by-step.

You can access the user guide and simulator here.

If you need online training, you can email us at RMATraining@randmutual.co.za to book your training session.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We know that you go to great lengths to keep your employees safe and your facilities without incident, but despite all of the preventive measures you take to avoid an accident, an unfortunate fact is that at some point, most businesses will experience a workplace accident of some kind. Reporting work-related accidents and ill-health is your responsibility as an employer and is a legal requirement.

It is important to always have someone available who knows what to do, who to phone and how to immediately report the accident to us. All employers have a duty to ensure that their employees receive immediate and appropriate treatment following an accident. We encourage you to get to know the ambulance services, hospitals, emergency rooms and doctors in your area and to have the appropriate contact details easily accessible.

You may want to enter into an arrangement with the healthcare providers in your area to ensure that your employees are treated without delay when they get injured. You should inform the healthcare providers that your employees are covered by RMA for occupational injuries and diseases, and that as soon as we accept liability for a claim (usually within four days) the medical expenses are paid within seven days of receiving a medical invoice, provided all the required medical reports and documents are in order. Please be aware that as the employer, you will be responsible for all medical costs until RMA has accepted liability for a claim.

When to report an accident

An employee or a witness must report the accident to your dedicated HR, payroll or health and safety representative as soon as possible after it has occurred.
You are required to report the injury or disease to RMA as follows:

1. Occupational injuries: within 7 days of injury
2. Occupational diseases: within 14 days of diagnosis

You need to report the accident even if it is after the prescribed time. If the accident is not reported within 12 months of it happening, the injured employee will receive no benefits.

What should be reported

All work-related injuries on duty, no matter how minor, need to be reported, including:

• • minor lacerations
• • minor scratches and cuts
• • contusions
• • abrasions

How to report an accident

You can report accidents at any time using our online C-filing system.

Register here to make use of our online system anytime and anywhere.

 

“As the administrator for occupational injuries and diseases for the mining and metals industry, we understand the importance of Health and Safety in the workplace and support innovative safety initiatives that help reduce the amount of injury on duty incidents in the workplace. That is why we have sponsored the Health and Safety Award this year at the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence,” said Mr. Patrick Matshidze, Chief Operating Officer at RMA.

The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) hosted the annual SEIFSA Awards for Excellence on 22 May 2019. This event was introduced five years ago to the metals and engineering sector, as an opportunity for companies within the industry to be honoured by peers for their capabilities, expertise and innovation.

This award is given to the company that demonstrates an outstanding, innovative contribution to health and safety in the workplace. The Winner of the 2019 Health and Safety Award was Howden for demonstrating an innovative approach to risk management through the implementation of several programmes that have positively influenced the safety culture within their organisation. Using technology as a communication tool and customised software to effectively raise health and safety awareness, Howden achieved the lowest Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate among the competition entries and landed themselves this prestigious award.

Other winners in different categories were Babcock International (Environmental Stewardship Award), Vesco Plastics (Customer Service of the Year Award), SNC Lavalin (Artisan Development of the Year Award) and Schneider Electric (Best Customer Service of the Year Award).

Read more about the 2019 Health and Safety Award and Awards for Excellence here.

 

In June, we focused on celebrating and empowering South African Youth through various career growth initiatives that took place throughout the month.

RMA career month

This is an annual initiative aimed at empowering tertiary students embarking on kick starting their career. We offer a platform for young people to see what the future of work will look like and empower them with tools, ideas and access to mentors who can prepare them for their upcoming career journey. The aim of the event is to ensure that young people are given the opportunity to obtain the necessary skills, education and support to fully benefit from the opportunities that may exist in the sector but that are often out of their reach due to lack of access to information.

Cell C Take a Girl Child to Work Day

We collaborated with Cell C in supporting their socio-development programme aimed at motivating and empowering school-going girls. The value of this programme is to expose and empower girls on their paths of career development. This year, the initiative was extended to girls in grade 8 to 12. We partnered with neighbouring schools such as Rand Girls High and St Enda’s Secondary School along with other learners from schools in Johannesburg.

We believe it is important that girls are exposed to accomplished female role models that are great examples for igniting a girls’ passion for leadership and excellence. As part of the agenda for the three workshops taking place until 30 August is a line-up of successful career women engaging learners on what to expect in the work-place, delivered through a motivational workshop by Malebo Sepodi, a South African writer and researcher that has worked with many schools, NGO’s and the private sector tackling numerous socio-economic projects.

These career sessions also provide students with information on our skills development programmes such as the Learnership and Internship programmes as well as possible career opportunities within the company. The students have the opportunity to also engage with our staff working in specialised career fields to gain a better understanding of their career journeys.

“RMA lives by its caring and compassionate way. We see it as a privilege to help communities further their skills and enjoy seeing people being educated, reaching for their dreams and achieving their goals. We live to see the joy on people’s faces when they’re empowered and improve their standard of living. Lending a helping hand is what warms our hearts,” said Ms. Gracious Bambisa, Marketing Manager at RMA.