How do I get the Best Workers' Compensation Training?

Professionals who specialize in workers' comp insurance are valuable to employers, insurance companies, and companies that consult on injury prevention and insurance claims management. To become that trusted and valuable workers' compensation specialist, get the best workers' compensation training through certification courses, professional organizations and meetings, and from on-the-job experience. Workers' compensation training can focus on different aspects of the industry such as managed care and healthcare, claims adjusting, loss control and injury prevention, returning injured workers to employment and disability management, and insurance underwriting.

Workers' compensation training is available through certification courses. There are several professional organizations that offer training classes, including courses that are specific to particular regions and states. Before taking classes through one of these organizations, you should research the organizations themselves. Ask colleagues what their experience has been with these organizations. Price can also be a factor, as different certifications come with different price tags. Your employer may volunteer to pick up the costs of the training.

Once you find a workers' compensation training organization with a solid reputation, decide which courses are appropriate for your professional development. It comes down to what you need to know about workers' compensation. For instance, there are workers' compensation training courses for injury prevention specialists, claims management specialists, and premium audit specialists, as well as general workers' comp courses. Underwriters, claims adjusters, safety directors, regulation compliance consultants, and human resource managers might all benefit from a general course, but for more advanced workers' compensation training, more specific courses might be appropriate.

These courses typically involve hours of class work and examinations. You can find workers' compensation training courses that offer classes online or in the traditional classroom setting. To earn the final certification, you often have to pass multiple tests along the way. These can often, however, be taken remotely or during on-site classes.

Opportunities for workers' compensation training also exist through insurance trade groups. These trade groups are for the workers' comp industry as well as the risk management and insurance industries. All of these groups tend to have national and regional meetings where educational courses and roundtable discussions are held. Often, these sessions provide workers' compensation instruction on general, beginner, advanced, and specialized topics. Such trade groups and research organizations include the Workers Compensation Research Institute, the Insurance Information Institute, the Risk and Insurance Management Society, and the Association of Workers' Comp Professionals.