As the cost of insurance continues
to rise, there is one sure way to
keep this cost down: reduce the frequency of insurance claims by creating a culture that encourages employees
to work safely 100 percent of the time.
“When implemented correctly, a good
safety program helps companies increase the amount of control they have
over potential loss-producing exposures,” says Mark Troxell, director of
safety services at The Graham Company
in Philadelphia. “If managers focus on
the right things and can get their employees to buy into the necessary safety initiatives to prevent losses, then they are
definitely going to see improvement in
the form of reduced frequency of insurance claims and ultimately reduce their
insurance costs.”
Smart Business talked to Troxell
about how companies can improve their
safety record and reduce insurance
costs.
How does safety affect insurance costs?
A large percentage of the cost of insurance is based on a company’s loss experience. If a company has a high frequency of claims, it will eventually have a
high dollar claim. By designing and
implementing an effective safety program, we can prevent the accidents that
create insurance claims, which will
reduce the overall long-term cost of
insurance for the company.
Aren’t most insurance claims the result of
preventable accidents?
Almost all accidents are preventable.
When you think about all the different
kinds of insurance claims you could
have, an employee could get injured on
the job (workers’ compensation claim);
one of your employees or a product you
manufacture could injure another person (general liability claim); you could
have an automobile accident (automobile claim); you could have a fire in your
building (property claim); or you could
make an error or omission in providing some type of professional service (professional liability claim).
With the exception of very few automobile accidents, almost every other
type of claim can be prevented or at
least minimized with proper planning
and by creating the right work environment. Almost every job can be made
safer or at least more comfortable for a
company’s workers. Products can be
designed to reduce the risk of causing
injury to their users. Most automobile
accidents can be prevented by hiring
qualified drivers, driving defensively,
keeping a safe following distance, properly maintaining your vehicles and only
operating them when drivers are properly rested.
How do you start the process of creating a
safety program?
We start by learning about our client’s
business. Every company operates a little bit differently; it’s our job to learn
about the culture of the company and
what managers expect from their
employees. We then assist our clients to
identify, manage and control the risks
present in their daily operations. This
approach includes educational training, exposure identification, and assistance
with program development, implementation and monitoring.
What are some of the keys to successfully
designing and implementing an effective
safety program?
The biggest factor that will determine
the success of a safety program is management’s commitment to safety, which
includes actively seeking input from
workers. If a company’s leaders don’t
believe in the program, then their
employees won’t either. Companies that
commit themselves to safety from the
top down, allocate adequate resources
(including people) to accomplish the
job, and spend enough time planning
their work and educating their employees about their operations tend to have
the best results over time.
Creating a ‘safety culture’ that encourages employees to work safely and deliver safe products and services is directly
related to reducing insurance costs in
the long run.
What are some of the new trends in safety?
Behavior-based safety has become
more of a focus over the past few years.
One of things we like about this philosophy is that it shifts the focus of safety
programs away from physical conditions
that may potentially cause loss and more
toward employee behavior, which causes the large majority of losses.
In other words, we like the idea of
focusing on building safe work habits
(something positive) within a company
and having the employees actively participate in the observation process. For
any given job, we list the potential hazards and define the behaviors that will
allow an employee to complete a
process safely every time. When done
correctly, it becomes a fun and self-sustaining way to get results.
MARK TROXELL is director of safety services at The Graham
Company. Reach him at [email protected] or (215) 701-5340.
