The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation will focus on wellness and workplace safety in 2018, the agency’s administrator says in an editorial.

Sarah Morrison

“BWC’s new wellness program will offer Ohio workers in small businesses a variety of services,” BWC Administrator Sarah D. Morrison wrote in the Norwalk Reflector. “Details are being finalized, but the program will offer services such as health risk assessments, biometric screenings, personalized health plans and coaching, chronic disease management and more.

“This is geared to help workers live a healthy, balanced life — factors that can prevent injury, or recover more quickly if they are hurt on the job,” Morrison wrote.

Ohio is one of four monopolistic states, which require employers to obtain workers’ compensation coverage from a compulsory state fund. The others are North Dakota, Washington and Wyoming.

Morrison also detailed the agency’s 2017 highlights, including a $1 billion rebate that increased workers’ compensation savings for Ohio employers to $6.3 billion since 2011; a new grant program that helps fire departments buy safety equipment; and an enhanced care program that gives providers greater latitude in treating knee injuries.