Media Advisory: July 18, 2011

BWC Launches Social Media Effort

COLUMBUS – The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has entered the world of social media, launching both Twitter and Facebook accounts, each with its own distinctive purpose.

“100 years ago, Ohioans adopted an innovative new system for protecting our employers and workforce,” said BWC Administrator/CEO Stephen Buehrer. “Today, we are using innovations like social media to invite our customers to engage us as we think forward to advancing workers’ compensation in Ohio for the next 100 years.”

The Twitter account (http://twitter.com/ohiobwc) will highlight agency activities, news and information, and distribute updates important to employers, injured workers, medical providers, safety professionals and Ohio’s entire workers’ comp community. As a nod to the 100th anniversary of workers compensation in Ohio, the first Tweet was a link to a commemorative video titled Looking Back, Thinking Forward. June 15 marked the 100 year anniversary of the 1911 signing of the Ohio Workmen’s Compensation Act, which made Ohio one of the first states in the nation to offer workers’ compensation insurance.

The Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ohiobwcfraud) will focus on the bureau’s fraud investigation efforts. The BWC Special Investigations Department will use the page in their efforts to deter, detect, investigate, and prosecute workers’ compensation fraud. It includes news on recent investigatory action, a most-wanted section and a link to report fraud.

BWC is a non general-revenue fund state agency that provides workers’ compensation insurance for 230,000 Ohio employers and covers approximately two-thirds of Ohio’s workforce. With approximately $2.1 billion in annual premium and assessment income, BWC is the largest state-fund system in the United States and one of the top 10 underwriters of workers’ compensation insurance in the nation.

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