The safety and health of employees should be a top priority for your business. The first step in improving safety in the workplace is identifying risks. Then it’s important to take steps to reduce or eliminate those safety hazards. Here are four steps in completing a risk assessment.

#1 Identifying risks

One of the leading causes of accidents and injuries at work is failure to identify risks. To identify risks, safety managers should collect and review information about any existing and potential hazards in the workplace. This process may include workplace inspections, employee interviews, injury incident investigations and an analysis of the severity of risks to employees.

#2 Identifying workers at risk

After the risks are identified, determine which workers are most at risk from these workplace hazards. This will give you the needed information for which workers may need special safety training, protective equipment or other adjustments to their work environment.

#3 Assessment of risks

Once you have identified hazards and workers who are at risk, the next step is assessing the risks. Here are a few questions to consider: What health risks are there to employees? How severe are these risks? Is the work environment and/or equipment used responsible for risks to employee safety? What steps can you take to reduce safety hazards? If the risk cannot be eliminated, assess what impact the hazard will have on employees’ safety and health.

#4 Implement measures to reduce or eliminate risks

Workplace risk assessment is of no use unless steps are taken to reduce or eliminate risks. At-risk workers need safety training for dealing with hazardous situations. Any physical hazards at the workplace should be removed if possible (faulty equipment, antiquated office furniture, excess noise, etc.).

Safety managers need to develop a written program and hold official meetings and training for employees. Workplace safety risk assessment is an ongoing process and is essential for the security and health of employees. Improving workplace safety can help eliminate unnecessary risks to employees and help them save money on insurance premiums for workers compensation coverage. Here are some guidelines from OSHA for establishing a workplace safety program.

Risk managers might not be in charge of making the actual decisions regarding whether something should or shouldn’t be done at a business, but they are crucial in the decision-making process. Their role is to offer insight and advice that minimizes overall risk while maximizing overall value to the business and organization stakeholders.

A risk manager’s job is to evaluate risks, of course – but communication of these findings to board members, senior management and others is crucial. In fact, without effective and thorough communication, a risk manager’s role is worthless to a business. Without effective communication that helps stakeholders understand the output and consequences of certain actions, an organization will almost certainly undergo more harm than good. In fact, most business crises are not linked to a lack of information or understanding but a failure to effectively communicate risk.

What does effective risk communication look like?

• explaining the chance of a risk playing out a certain way and what the business impact will be in the scenario
• outlining the difference between risk (which is dependent on certain scenarios) and hazard (found within a specific area)
• helping to deal with fears and uncertainties around certain risk elements
• managing expectations around long-term and short-term risk impact
• improving the overall comprehension of risk-based terminology and concepts to ensure better understanding
• educating managers about risk management decisions impacting every level of business
• creating a culture of transparency that enables concerns to be addressed and questions answered
• growing risk-management credibility through training, continued education and consistent, relevant communication
• dealing with potentially conflicting interests of various stakeholders and all affected parties

Our business takes risks seriously. We can help you establish the risk management plan that’s right for you and take the appropriate steps to stay insured against potential business hazards. Get in touch with us today to find out more.

Businesses have a responsibility to take care of their employees. Not only is this a smart business practice to protect your bottom line and to protect your business reputation, it’s federally mandated. Most private sector employers and their workers in the United States must adhere to OSHA safety programs to protect employees.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act details specific responsibilities of employers regarding ensuring a safe and healthy workspace for their teams, which includes, but is not limited to:

• Provide a workplace free from serious recognized hazards and comply with standards, rules and regulations issued under the OSHA Act.
• Examine workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable OSHA standards.
• Make sure employees have and use safe tools and equipment and properly maintain this equipment.
• Use color codes, posters, labels or signs to warn employees of potential hazards.
• Establish or update operating procedures and communicate them so that employees follow safety and health requirements.
• Provide safety training in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.

This federal law also gives employees the right to call their local OSHA office and make a complaint or lodge a concern regarding their place of employment. Because of the importance of worker safety, OSHA takes workplace violations against regulations seriously. Inspections that reveal non-compliance can mean fines or costly renovations for the business.

The official OSHA website notes, “OSHA encourages all employers to adopt a safety and health program. Safety and health programs, known by a variety of names, are universal interventions that can substantially reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries and alleviate the associated financial burdens on U.S. workplaces. Most successful safety and health programs are based on a common set of key elements. These include management leadership, worker participation, and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards.” All that to say – smart planning can protect your business.

Prevention and preparation are the key to avoiding costly and dangerous accidents or workplace problems. Our team can help you find solutions for your OSHA compliance needs. Give us a call today.

Protecting your business starts with a plan. But “protecting your business from risk” can also seem vague. Where do you start? Every business will be different, but here are some steps to take to get you started.

1. Identify risks: A risk is a potential problem that could damage your business. This includes cybersecurity threats, employee workplace hazards, and even damage to your physical space that could disrupt the operation of your business and hurt your finances and business reputation. Consider all the ways your business could suffer when starting your risk assessment.
2. Create a risk document: After identifying, it’s important to document. This includes estimating how much each potential risk could cost your business – in anything from money to downtime to industry reputation. Rank your risks from mild to severe – this will help your risk mitigation plan and give you and your business a list of priorities.
3. Make your prevention plan: Each risk has been established – now what? Begin research for how best to prevent them. Is your workspace laid out in a way that would allow for easy evacuation? Do you have regular emergency drills? Have you updated your operational security software to gate access to both your building and your software systems? Asking these kinds of questions help you identify gaps in your risk management plan.
4. Review: Always go back and look at your risk plan. Have certain things become higher or lower risks, based on new location, new software, or new employee policies? Have your mitigation efforts helped reduce or eliminate incidents, or are you still seeing problems in certain areas? If negative patterns continue, it’s probably time to revisit your prevention plan and see if other strategies could be more successful.

Workers compensation insurance is a staple at just about every business, known by employers and employees alike. But where did it come from? Today’s businesses have a legal and ethical obligation to prioritize the safety and well-being of their employees. Having workers comp protections in place also helps protect the business from a variety of risks, including lost productivity and expensive lawsuits.

Some history texts make a strong case that compensation for work accidents has existed for centuries. Some historians point to thousand year old texts from Greece, Rome, China and Iraq that indicate those injured in the line of work were entitled to some compensation and that each injury had a specific monetary value.

In the US, the Industrial Revolution brought a huge increase in factory employee injuries caused by mechanical equipment. At the time, the only recourse was to sue the employer and try to show negligence. It ended up being difficult for employees to overcome the restrictive burden of proof and convince a court of true employer negligence and responsibility. Many employees were assumed to understand the risks and therefore be at fault for any injuries.

Coverage for occupational injuries in the US started in the early 1900s, after the dangers of working in American slaughterhouses became public. The first federal attempt at widespread worker’s compensation law was in 1906 and 1908 when Congress passed the Employers’ Liability Acts, but most states would fail to pass employee protection laws. Still, the public demand for a more protected workplace increased, and Wisconsin was the first US state to pass a comprehensive workers’ compensation law in 1911. Mississippi was the last state to pass such a law in 1948. Initial workers’ comp insurance laws meant that employers needed to provide medical and pay replacement benefits for workers who were injured at work, and if an employee accepted the workers’ compensation benefits, they couldn’t legally sue the employer for negligence. The workers protection laws of today work about the same – to help safeguard employees and protect business assets. However, modern workers compensation doesn’t apply only to industries with heightened employee risks.

If your business needs workers’ compensation coverage or has questions about employee injury insurance, get in touch today. Our expertise and experience can help you provide the best possible protection to your business and employees.