Risk & Business

Every small business owner who has enough work comp premium to establish an experience mod, knows the importance of that number being under 1.0. If the mod goes over 1.0 then it could affect your ability to get contracts or to stay on contracts. The work comp experience mod is used as an indicator of your safety. That is why most job contracts require mods under 1.0. Risk management procedures are a must in order to keep a mod under 1.0. Enclosed are a few ideas to accomplish this. 1) Update and review safety practices to avoid and reduce work comp claims 2) Review losses and reserves with your insurance broker on a continuous basis. 3) Double check the math calculation on the mod formula to make sure it is correct 4) Double check the  loss reporting data from the insurance company to the Comp Bureau to assure accuracy 5) Make sure your payroll audits are accurate and have been reported to the Comp Bureau correctly These are just some of the risk management processes to get you

The Liberty Mutual Research Institute just reported the top work place injuries in the US. And the winners are.  1) overexertion , 2) falls from same level, 3)getting hit by an object. Lets review each one and suggest a risk managment treatment.  Overexertion happens all the time. It is number 1 because it is hard to prevent. Lifting, bending, crawling, and reaching are all causes of overexertion. A simple but effective risk managment strategy for prevention is recurrent training. Teaching workers proper techniques to protect their bodies, can go a long way in reducing these claims. Falls from the same level are your typical tripping injuries. Risk managment solutions can be as simple as continuous  and ongoing, clean up, fixing, moving, and rearranging to prevent trip hazards. Think ergonomics. Getting hit by an object rounds out the top 3 and can usually be pointed to mobile equipment and autos. Again risk managment treatments focus on backing alarms, visual aids, and protected ar

Congress left on the Christmas break without passing a terrorism extension. This unexpected turn of events has left business owners extremely vulnerable. With no Federal back stop, coverage has dried up in the private market. Insurance companies didn't see it coming and have no financial resources to pick up the coverage. So Congress let down business by leaving them uncovered. Hopefully after they return they will pass an extension. If not it could be a major problem for business as the private market cannot provide the coverage and businesses may have to operate with none. Yikes !! Until next time be careful out there and know your risks. G. Kevin Nemith, President CNC Insurance Assoc. And the Small Business Insurance Center. Serving DE, PA, MD, NJ, & VA www.cncinsurance.com www.bizinsurancetv.org