FirstComp and The Insurance Shop Team up for Pay As You Go Workers Comp

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Tim
FirstComp Pay As You Go Workers Compensation

FirstComp Begins Offering PayGo Workers Comp Coverage via WorkersCompensationShop.com

At The Insurance Shop, we have always wanted to work with insurance carriers that are forward thinkers and understand the importance of the changing marketplace. It is with that idea in mind that The Insurance Shop and Markel First Comp have formed a working partnership to offer pay-as-you-go workers compensation coverage.

This program fits in with The Insurance Shop’s already existing pay-as-you-go programs and will give business owners the cash flow benefits of a PayGo program in conjunction with the benefits of the pricing and claims management standards of Markel FirstComp.

For those who aren’t familiar with the differences between a pay-as-you-go policy and a traditional workers compensation policy, here is a quick comparison between the two:

Traditional Direct Bill Policy

In a traditional workers compensation policy, a policyholder estimates their payroll for the upcoming year and the insurance carrier offers a quote based on that estimated payroll. The insured then will typically make scheduled payments based off of that quote. The most common payment plan in the industry requires a down payment of between 15-25% of the estimated premium and then 9 more monthly payments of the balance.

Then at the end of the policy period, the carrier does an audit to compare the employer’s actual payroll numbers against the estimated payroll. If the business ran more payroll than expected, it will owe more money to the carrier. If the company ran less payroll than predicted, the carrier will owe money back to the employer. Regardless of who owes whom money, there is typically an audit balance and it is due in one payment.

Since these audits are typically completed within a month of when the policy expired, this system can often create a cash flow crunch for a business. If the business owner owes money on the audit, it is coming at a time when that business has already just paid their down payment for the new workers compensation policy.

Pay-As-You-Go Policy

With a pay-as-you-go workers compensation policy, the quoting process still works the same way. The policyholder will estimate their payroll for the upcoming year and the insurance carrier offers a quote based off that amount. The difference comes when the insured wants to bind the policy.

Instead of paying between 15-25% down, the startup amount is just the expense constant (usually around $200) and any state taxes and fees assessed on the policy. This means an insured is usually spending just a few hundred dollars to get a policy in force, which is a huge cash flow advantage for the business owner.

Then, instead of making monthly payments of a set amount, The Insurance Shop will calculate and collect the workers compensation premium a company generates each time it processes payroll. If a business already uses a payroll company, we can work with that company for the PayGo program. If a business doesn’t use a payroll company, we could recommend using our sister company PaySmart Payroll.

The advantage of this method is that the insured’s workers comp premium will ebb and flow with their payroll. It also typically reduces the exposure of the end-of-year audit. Since a company is paying based on it’s actual wages instead of estimated, we typically see audit differences of less than $100 on PayGo policies.

We are pleased to announce that Markel FirstComp is now offering a pay-as-you-go workers compensation solutions for business owners. First Comp Insurance already has a strong name in the comp industry and has remained aggressive in writing workers compensation in the current hard market. FirstComp excels in insuring blue-collar risks, which makes them a wonderful fit for Pay As You Go because the construction industry typically sees payrolls vary significantly from one month to the next.

FirstComp is yet another great addition to our current line up of Pay As You Go workers compensation from excellent workers compensation insurance companies such as The Hartford, Employers, Guarantee Insurance Company, Accident Insurance, Travelers, AmeriSafe, Dallas National, and MEM.

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Should I consider a self-funded captive program?

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Tim

This is one of the more common questions that I get from many of our larger premium clients. Almost always, I answer with a definitive yes. Any company that has premiums in excess of $250,000 should be considering creative and alternative ways to  save money on their workers comp insurance costs and get a better return for their premium dollars.

Some entrepreneurs are afraid to consider a self-insured captive program because they think that they have to become experts at workers compensation insurance. I’ve seen several business owners shy away from such a plan because it’s different from what their local agent has ever discussed with them. The best part about these plans is that the business owner doesn’t have to be knowledgeable about workers compensation to enjoy the potential rewards of the program. That’s what they are paying the insurance carrier for.

The simple truth is that these entrepreneurs built their business by taking risks to grow their company.  A self-funded work comp captive program is built on the same principle: A company that is willing to share in the risk of workers compensation claims, can also share in the profits as a result.  The trick is getting the plan design right and controlling claims by reducing worksite risks.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of such a program, let’s first get a basic understanding of a self-funded captive program. Some agents like to explain a captive as a way of forming your own insurance company, which is a good way to think of it. Instead of complaining about all the money they pay to an insurance company for workers compensation coverage, now a company is paying a part of that premium to itself to fund losses.  As the reserve fund builds, the funding mechanism creates profits and return.

A self-funded captive program is also called a single-parent captive, which helps identify the difference between this program and a traditional captive. Multiple insured’s are placed in a traditional captive and they may or may not share in the profits/losses of the plan, depending on how the program is set up.

A self-funded captive program will have only one company in the program and they will always share in the risks and rewards. By strict definition, a captive is an insurance vehicle that is owned by its policyholders.  However, some parent captives may have segregated cells underneath them which basically act the same as the parent captive.

What many of our policyholders enjoy the most in this type of program is the thought that now they are paying the insurance company for their expertise, instead of just premium. In a self-insured captive program, the business and the insurance carrier are truly working together. Both are equally motivated to be as responsive to claims as possible and to do everything possible to get employees back to work quickly. Think about a captive program from the carrier’s side for a moment … while their inherit risk is reduced, their potential profits are going to be heavily based on claims.

The insurance carriers that specialize in single-parent captives are truly loss control specialists. Some of the best claims management people in the industry help run and manage these programs and the loss statistics show dramatic results.

Obviously there is a start-up cost associated with a self-funded captive and a business should only consider this program if they have the budgeting capability to be prepared to pay for claims and not strap their daily business. The actual start-up amount required and the pricing on a program will vary from company to company and is based off a company’s past insurance history and claims costs for workers compensation. It is also important to note that these plans are considered a major commitment from both the insured and the carrier, and they commonly are written on 3-year contracts as opposed to a traditional annual workers compensation policy.

These policies also carry a minimum and maximum cost associated, which offers protection to the insured should they suffer losses that exceed any reasonable expectation. The carrier is liable for any losses that exceed the set maximum on the policy, which does help a company budget appropriately and understand their worse case scenario..

Here’s an example so that you can have a little more clear picture of how a program works:
Company A currently has a policy on guaranteed cost (meaning the carrier pays all the claims) that is around $5,000,000 per year. They average between $1.5-2 Million in claims per year, which is an acceptable average ratio.

With the self-funded captive program, Company A would have a minimum premium of $1,734,343 and a maximum of $7,307,205. Their 95% actuarial projection is $4,689,184 … meaning that the insurance carrier would expect them to pay premiums at or below this figure 95% of the time. The startup deposit would be $553,260, which is much lower than the average startup amount (15%) on a guaranteed cost program.

As you can see from this example, there is no guarantee this policy will save Company A money and, if the losses were exceptionally bad, could end up costing more than a traditional policy. However, there is a 95% chance that this program saves at least $300,000 … with a potential maximum reward of saving $3,250,000 if they experienced a claim-free year.

Workers compensation captives are an amazing vehicle to reduce the cost of workers compensation insurance for premium greater than $250,000 per year.  There are additional hidden advantages associated with owning an insurance captive that make them even more attractive with regard to wealth accumulation and estate planning.  However, that’s another conversation for another time.

Workers Compensation Shop is a national P&C Agency specializing in workers compensation insurance.

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Maryland Changes from IWIF to Chesapeake

Posted on October 14, 2013 by AJ Schrage

On October 1st, Injured Workers Insurance Fund (“IWIF”) changed its name to Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company.  This comes as a result of legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2012. In addition to the name change, Chesapeake Employers’ will cease to be an independent state agency.  It will become a non-stock, not for profit, private insurance company authorized to sell workers comp insurance (only in Maryland).  The Board of Directors for Chesapeake Employers’ will continue to be appointed by the governor of Maryland.

Baltimore, Maryland, Harbor, Bay, Tourism

Chesapeake Employers’ is the largest provider of workers compensation insurance in Maryland reflected by its 23% market share in MD, well ahead of any other insurance carrier.  It has assets of more than $1.8 billion and has over 375 employees.  Chesapeake also works with over 1,400 independent agents including The Insurance Shop.

Over 20,000 Maryland employers have their workers comp insurance with Chesapeake Employers’.  The company will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year, and it will continue to be a leader in workman’s comp insurance while working on creating safer workplaces.

Annapolis, Maryland, Bay, Harbor, Water

Chesapeake Employers’ has numerous non-English language resources, flexible installment payment rates, and competitive rates.  Policyholders have access to 24/7 e-Services, effective claims management, free safety materials, workplace safety services, online injury reporting and a Special Investigations Unit.

Even with the new name, Chesapeake Employers’ will continue business as usual.  Many of the changes will be internal, such as new hires being employees of Chesapeake Employers’ as opposed to the State of Maryland.  Much of the expertise of Chesapeake Employers’ comes from offering one line of insurance in one state.

Chicken Maryland, Food, Poultry

Chesapeake Employers’  will now have to pay Maryland state tax and property tax whereas it was previously exempt.  One consequence of this conversion is that the State of Maryland will no longer be able to appropriate any of Chesapeake Employers’ surplus.

Recently the State of Maryland authorized a $50 million transfer from IWIF’s prior surplus.  The surplus is no longer vulnerable to transfers by Maryland, so it will be used for financial stability to ensure payment of injured worker claims.  This benefits existing and future policyholders of Chesapeake Employers’.  There has been a significant advertising campaign to educate the public and policyholders about the conversion of IWIF to Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company.

Maryland, State, Usa, Flag, Map, America

Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company is unique in that it can be a great fit for both high risk and low risk employers alike.  As a State Fund carrier, it has to provide coverage if no other insurance carriers will, but its rates are very competitive.  With that being said, there are numerous other strong carriers that The Insurance Shop works with in Maryland including The Hartford, Travelers, Employers, AmTrust, Guarantee Insurance Company, Amerisafe and FirstComp.

Many of these carriers offer Pay As You Go workers compensation insurance solutions in certain circumstances.  Comparatively, workers comp insurance rates have risen in Maryland the last few years and even a bit faster than in most of the country.  However, rates in Maryland for workmen’s comp insurance are still below the national average (from the 42nd most expensive state in 2010 to the 34th most expensive in 2012).  Both Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company and the other carriers mentioned above contribute significantly to the reasonable workers comp rates in Maryland.

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Workers Compensation Owner and Officer Inclusion and Exclusion

Posted on October 1, 2013 by AJ Schrage

For workers compensation insurance, owners and officers of companies are treated differently from employees.  In many cases, workers compensation for such individuals is elective.  There are often specific rules, and those rules generally vary from state to state. In Florida, laws were recently changed with respect to LLC members as of July 1st, 2013.  All LLC members who elect to be excluded must file an Owner and Officer Exemption electronically with the State of Florida.  The link to file an exemption for LLC members in Florida is https://apps.fldfs.com/bocexempt/.  For members in a construction industry, there is a charge of $50 to be exempt.  For members in a non-construction industry, there is no charge.

Miami, Florida, Downtown, Cityscape

In each state, there are almost always specific rules with respect to the payroll value to use for included owners and officers.  For sole proprietors and partners, there is often a set income value which must be used regardless of the actual income of the individual.  Other times, and commonly for corporate officers, there is often a range of salary that can be used with defined minimum and maximum values varying by state.

Sometimes, such as in Florida, there are different ranges for construction industries and non-construction industries.  Tennessee is another state with differing payroll ranges depending whether it is a construction business or not.  In some states, corporate officers may be excluded regardless of company ownership.  On the other hand, in some other states a certain percentage of ownership is required for a corporate officer to be excluded.

While there are many factors to consider in selecting a business entity type, the entity type can significantly impact this aspect of workers compensation insurance.  For example, in Missouri, sole proprietors, partners in a partnership and LLC members may all elect to be excluded.  However, corporate officers (if there are any non-owner employees) must be included in coverage if the company has a workers compensation policy in place.  Thus, for certain business types such as heavy construction with higher workers comp rates, workers comp insurance may be significantly more expensive with one business entity type than another.

Gateway Arch, Kiener Plaza

Another unique rule in Missouri is that 10% of the payroll value for owners or officers must be put into a clerical or sales classification which is generally much cheaper than many employee classification types.  New Jersey is another state which permits LLC members to be excluded, but that requires corporate officers to be included in coverage.

How owner and officer inclusions and exclusions are documented varies a lot from state to state.  In many cases, only the insurance carrier needs to be notified of the coverage election.  In other states, there are specific forms which must be filed with a state agency documenting an owner or officer’s coverage election.

If you have questions about the inclusion or exclusion process for owners and officers, you should contact an insurance professional.  Unfortunately, there are many agents who don’t specialize in workers compensation insurance so be wary of bad advice or misguided information.  Work comp rules change frequently and not knowing your options may cost you significantly.

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How can I Lower my Workers Compensation Premium?

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Curt Sieve

Workers Compensation is often a large portion of overall Property and Casualty insurance costs.

Many business owners look at the workers compensation premium and wonder how they can reduce the overall cost of the insurance policy. The following ideas can help lower your workers comp costs and hopefully help make your business more profitable. Every Business will have one or more workers comp classification codes determined by NCCI (or in some cases the State) Each code will have a slightly different number that is used by insurance carriers to rate workers compensation premium. One way to reduce your cost is to take advantage of standard exceptions to the NCCI code classification.  Employees who perform clerical duties and are physically separate from manufacturing operations may be classified as clerical employees with a much lower rate than most other class codes. Make sure the classification for each and every employees is appropriate and correct.

Loss Control and Safety is critical for preventing losses in the workplace. Set the expectations in your safety manual. Follow up by reminding employees of safe practices including lifting, distracted driving, and the hazard of wet floors.  Scheduled safety meetings and incentive programs should be used to promote workplace safety. Decreasing losses will reduce your overall insurance costs as it results in a better experience modification factor. Develop a return to work program.  Having injured employees staying at home collecting workers compensation will raise your costs on premiums and also on additional labor you will need to hire while that person is out. A way to get your injured employee to return to work as soon as possible is to create a temporary position for that person.  You can give them duties that are not taxing on the body so that they will still be able to recover while they are working. Evaluate the benefit of adding a deductible to your Workers’ Compensation program.  A deductible provides an immediate credit to the premium calculation. Additionally, losses under the deductible will not be reported to NC CI and will cause a reduction in your experience modification.  Be sure to analyze the cost of funding your deductible.  Notice if there is a pattern for workers compensation claims. Determine if certain areas of your business have fewer claims than others, and determine why the risk is lesser or greater in different areas. Reduce risk by duplicating safe behaviors and programs and eliminating risky behaviors.. Eliminate workplace hazards that have caused an employee to get sick or injured so it doesn’t happen again. Report workers comp claims as soon as possible! Provide medical attention quickly if an employee is injured, as prompt medical attention may reduce complications that may arise from delayed care.  Complications can make workers’ compensation claims more expensive, which may increase insurance premiums.  Statistics prove that losses reported 24 hours or more after the loss are more expensive than those reported promptly.

Managing your Workers’ Compensation program carefully can save money and improve your bottom line.

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Garage Liability vs. Garagekeepers Insurance

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Curt Sieve

The difference between Garage Liability coverage and Garagekeepers coverage is similar to the difference between liability insurance and physical damage insurance. The first covers the insured’s liability for operations and autos and the other covers damage to customer’s vehicles. All garage operators need both insurance coverages to properly insure their loss exposures.

Garage Keepers Insurance Coverage

Buy Garage Liability and GarageKeepers Insurance Coverage

A typical garage business has an auto exposure (owned, non-owned and hired) as well as premises/operations, contractual and products/completed operations exposures.  Rather than writing two separate policies, the Garage policy allows you to combine the coverages into one Policy. Therefore, a Garage Policy is a combination Business Auto Coverage form and a Commercial General Liability Coverage form.  Garage liability insurance is an absolute necessity for the owner of a car dealership, a local mechanic, a tire dealer, a company doing oil changes, and similar business models.  These policies are for employers who make a living working on cars owned by other people. These programs are also for companies installing stereos or satellite radios.

Do not make the mistake with the assumption believing Garage Liability Insurance would cover the loss of a customer’s auto while in your care. A separate Garagekeeper’s policy or addendum to the garage (service center) policy already written must be in place.

Under the Garagekeeper’s coverage, there are two options for the auto service operator to consider.  One is called direct excess coverage that pays up to the value of the destroyed vehicle above the owner’s coverage, and the other is direct primary coverage in which the service owner’s carrier shares the loss with the car owner’s insurer. If you have a repair center that has a fleet of tow trucks or dispatched repair vehicles, those assets are covered under Garage Liability Insurance.  However, the customer cars sitting outside waiting for service, or inside on that lift are not covered and this is the reason why you need the “keeper clause” for your protection. Please note that most Garagekeeper’s Policies excludes loss to non-factory installed sound equipment. Garage Liability Insurance providers may become extremely discriminatory regarding the requirements for getting the insurance, such as strict loss prevention or risk management efforts by the auto service owner.

To cut costs and keep insurance premiums lower, indemnity companies are often refusing to underwrite such things as wind and hail damage for company and customer vehicles.

And tolerance by insurers for multiple incidents at a garage is limited. Meaning insurance companies are quick to get off policies with claims.  Make sure every employee and officer of the company is listed on the policy.  Coverage is usually only afforded to the locations and drivers listed on the coverage. Employees that get a DUI or go over their state point allowances may be excluded from driving privileges and non-company drivers need to be discussed with the insurance agent who wrote the policy.  Getting and keeping garage liability insurance can be daunting.  Proper night lighting, well landscaped grounds, well maintained signage and windows as well as a freshly painted exterior as well as clean floors and bathrooms inside can make or break a policy being approved. Most carriers rely heavily on site inspections during the underwriting policy.

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How to Calculate Workers Compensation Premium

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Curt Sieve

How is Your Workers Compensation Premium Calculated?

How to calculate workers comp premium?

No matter the size of your company one of the most important things to do and basic costs of doing business is insuring your employees against injury on the job. On the job injuries often increase your experience modification rating, which increases your premium.

How Workers’ Comp Premiums are calculated Workers compensation premiums are calculated according to how employees are classified (with regards to the specific type of work they perform) and the rate assigned to each employee classification.  Dames The premium rate itself is expressed as dollars and cents per $100 dollars of payroll for each class code.  In most states, the NCCI determines the classification rate and experience modification factor.

Factors that Go into Setting Workers Compensation Premiums · Size of the employer’s payroll (Bigger premiums get automatic premium discounts) · Employee job classifications (Lesser risk equals lowers manual rates) · Company’s claims experience (Fewer claims equals lower experience modifiers) Premiums for workers’ compensation insurance are calculated by Payroll (per $100) X Classification Rate X Experience Modifier = Premium.

As an example, if you have a $100,000 payroll and your classification code has a $10.00 rate per hundred: Your manual premium before credits and discounts would be 100k/100 ($1,000) x $10 = $10,000. Keep in mind this calculation is before the application of your Ex Mod or premium volume discounts.  Additionally, insurance companies file their rates in most states and may have multiple tiers of rates for different risks.

Therefore it’s important to shop multiple carriers when purchasing workers compensation insurance.  How Your Payroll Affects Your Workers Compensation Rate The basis for an employer’s workers’ comp insurance premium is your payroll.  For each $100 dollars of your payroll, there is a specific rate, which is determined by the classification codes of your employees. If you can keep detailed records for what employees are doing on multiple jobs or in different aspects of their job you may be able to break out that portion of payroll and potentially save on premium.

How Your Employer Classification Affects Your Insurance Rate Businesses are separated into groups according to the type of work they do.  This classification system identifies which type of work presents more risk to the employees performing these tasks. In almost all states, the workers comp classification system is maintained by The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). How Your Experience Modification Factor Affects Your Premium Your experience modifier – typically referred to as your Ex Mod – is a numeric representation of your company’s claim experience. Ex Mods are based on how your business compares to others in your industry with similarly classified employees. An average Ex Mod starts at 1.00. Employers with fewer and less severe accidents than average have a MOD of less than 1.00.  It will generally take a few years of consecutive coverage to be effected one way or the other regarding an Ex Mod.  However, employers who demonstrate little to know claims are more likely to receive underwriting credits on their renewal policies.

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How Credits and Debits Affect Workers Comp Rates

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Curt Sieve

When purchasing Worker’s Compensation Insurance there are two primary factors that can change your rate. There are credits, which help lower the price you pay for coverage, and then there are debits, which bring up the price you pay.  Below we will break down these differences to help you understand your comp quote and declarations page with a little more confidence. WORKERS COMP DEBITS There are a few different reasons that you will find a debit your policy or quote. The first has to do with whether or not the insurance carriers quoting actually like the aspect of the business they are writing.

In other words, there are policies that carry greater risks for the insurance company.  For example carriers may believe its more profitable to cover a clerical worker than a HVAC contractor.  Since every job class is captured in a similar group or NCCI class code, its easy for carriers to identify which of these groups are profitable and which are not. One of the ways that a carrier will become more comfortable offering a quote is to add a debit, thus increasing the amount you pay to potentially offset loses from injury, etc. The other big reason you may see a debit added to your manual rates is due to claims history. Some companies are better at managing injury and promoting safety.  For example companies with safety programs, return to work programs, and prompt reporting of claims generally have less claims and associated costs than a company that never focuses on how to maintain a safe environment for workers. Having these types of programs in place can, conversely, help you obtain credits, which we will discuss shortly.

Simply put the more claims you have the more you are going to pay in workers compensation premium due to the debits applied on the policy. Finally another reason for debits has to do with the industry itself or the carrier that is pricing your policy.  If the a carrier has had a negative financial experience from having to pay out a lot of claims over a short period of time, they may try to make up for the increased cost by assigning debits to certain classes of business. Another other factor is the insurance industry itself. Depending on how long you have been in business, you may have been through the cycle of premiums going up and down. Multiple carriers and the amount of claims drive this across the entire workers compensation marketplace.

WORKERS COMP CREDITS

simply put, credits are a discount off your policy. Here is an example on a $1,000 policy: a 15% credit would take it to the manual premium down to $850. Most carriers can offer up to a 40% discount to qualified policyholders depending on the state and the premium size.  One of the keys to making sure that your business gets the maximum credits is to ensure you have a strong safety program and clean history of losses. Owner and manager experience in the industry may often play a part as well. There are also automatic discounts that you may see due to premium size of the policy.

These are called premium credits or discounts and are often mandated by NCCI in most states.  This is generally set up in a tier system, such as $0-$5,000 or $5,000-$10,000 etc.  In most states these volume credits are determined by NCCI and automatically given on your work comp quotes if you qualify. The best way to get credits is to provide a very detailed description about how your business operates and what your staff does.

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What are workers compensation limits?

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Curt Sieve

What Do My Workers Compensation Limits Mean? A lot of people are not 100% sure about each of the parts of their workers comp coverage and we get the question “What is workers compensation?” quite often at The Insurance Shop.

Many employer don’t understand that the limits on your workers compensation insurance policy provide coverage for a business against lawsuits arising from employment-related injuries or illnesses. For example, if an injured employee is not satisfied alone with medical and loss of wage benefits because they feel their employer purposefully put them in harm’s way on the job or were grossly negligent, and as a result they were injured, they may sue for punitive damages.

This is where Part II of a workers’ comp policy would kick and provide coverage.

 

 

Part II also covers non-medical or wage-related expenses incurred as a result of the injury.  An example of this is expenses for making a home handicap accessible or expenses for having to afford childcare as a result of an injury. It is important to note that employers’ liability coverage is limited in coverage, unlike medical benefits or loss of wages.

 

This means a workers’ compensation policy will pay out whatever it takes to rehabilitate an injured employee; however, it will not pay out unlimited amounts of money on behalf of employers who were charged with gross negligence or knowingly placing their employees in harm’s way.  Employers’ liability coverage in most states starts at $100,000 in coverage per each employee, $100,000 each accident and at $500,000 per policy limit for disease or occupational hazards.  These limits are statutory or minimum limits that come with the purchase of a policy.

These coverage limits can be raised for a nominal additional premium percentage on most policies typically less than 2% of premium.  Many businesses opt for increased employers’ liability limits for peace of mind or because many sub-contractor agreements and general contracts often require higher limits than statutory coverage.

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ToolBox Talks

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Curt Sieve

Why Toolbox Talks are Important to You Business
Toolbox Talks are informal safety meetings designed to help keep your company’s safety procedures, rules regarding equipment, personal protective equipment, job assignments and expectations on the forefront of your employees minds. This type of meeting can be short and used often to reinforce formal safety meetings or training programs. This helps to potentially avoid cutting corners to get a job done more quickly due to not taking the time to walk back to the truck and get safety glasses, gloves, etc.  Constantly reminding your staff about safety can help you, as a business owner, save money on premium dollars over the course of many years.  It only takes one big claim or many small claims due to not being safe to drive up premium which can effect the growth of your company, or worse, result in having to lay someone off due to the fact insurance keeps going up. Safety is and always should be a proactive approach instead of a reactive one.

Below is a quick example of a format for a Toolbox Talk: – Focus on one subject per talk – Choose a subject that involves your group on hand – Avoid vague statements.

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