You've arrived at the spot in your workers’ compensation program where it is a good idea to have a brochure as a communication tool. Congratulations!
Keep the design and writing of your brochure very simple. Remember, all you want to do is provide your employees with a summary of the most important workers’ comp management policies developed by the company, to ensure everyone understands these policies. Before you start, make sure you message is clear. The best way to do this is to write it down. Your message should contain a statement of the "importance of your employees."
What Does a Good WC Brochure Contain? What size font should be used?
Use 8.5 x 11 paper, folded in thirds, giving you a total of six sections – three on each side of a single sheet of paper. Don't just throw words on a piece of paper – it takes a little more planning than that.
Understand Grade Level
Space is at a premium, so you must be clear and direct. Avoid wordiness or pompous phrasing or vocabulary. Actually, gearing your message to the sixth grade is just about right. The average person reads at 9th grade level. The "Flesch-Kincaid" grade level index is on some versions of Microsoft Word. Grade level is calculated based on a formula of average sentence length, average size of the word, average syllables minus pronouns and additional points for hard words.
Space is at a premium, so you must be clear and direct. Avoid wordiness or pompous phrasing or vocabulary. Actually, gearing your message to the sixth grade is just about right. The average person reads at 9th grade level. The "Flesch-Kincaid" grade level index is on some versions of Microsoft Word. Grade level is calculated based on a formula of average sentence length, average size of the word, average syllables minus pronouns and additional points for hard words.
Six key details to master:
1- Use font size 10, 11 or 12 and the spacing between the lines (called the "leading"),
2- The leading should be 120% of font size.
3- Use 7-12 words per line; this length sentence helps readers scan within their field of view.
4-Use upper and lower case, never use all upper case because it is very difficult to read. People often read the "coastline" of a sentence rather than actually reading the words themselves, and with caps they can not do that.
5- Use unjustified right margins (called ragged right).
6- Use sufficient white space so the piece is pleasing to the eye.
Your brochure sections might look like this and contain similar information:
This is the OUTSIDE of your brochure.
1st Third Section Outside Frequently Asked Questions | 2nd Third Section Outside List Contact Information Here | 3rd Third Section Outside Your Company Logo Here Your Mission Statement And Other Company Information |
This is the INSIDE of your brochure.
1st Third Section Inside Description of Workers’ Compensation And Who Is Covered? | 2nd Third Section Inside Post Injury Response Procedure List the Steps If you are injured on the job: Report the injury to your supervisor. Seek medical treatment. Etc. | 3rd Third Section Inside How Treating Physician is Selected. Does the employee have a choice? When the employer may select the treating physician. Who Pays the Bills? What is the Process? |
Every company has a unique style and culture. If you match your communication style to your culture, than your employees will not only understand all about the company’s workers’ compensation policies and what to do if they are injured on the job, but will willingly buy into the process – making everyone happy. (workersxzcompxzkit)
Rebecca Shafer, J.D., Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers' Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. She can be contacted at: RShafer@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-553-6604.
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Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.
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