Friday, February 6, 2009

Warehouses and Workers' Compensation Liability

If you think you can get away without workers’ compensation insurance to save on costs. Think again. Not only is it illegal not to have workers’ compensation insurance, but an injured worker that files a claim can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. An injury as silly as having an insect fly into an employee’s ear while working on your premises can cost you several thousand dollars in doctor’s bills even legal fees. By having this insurance, the employee relinquishes the right to sue the employer for negligence, so unless you can afford to be sued in case of an employee’s injury or illness, it would behoove you to be covered.

In order to ensure that you get the best rate is to shop several "A rated" carriers. Carriers will review the number of employees, how many employees work in each capacity in detail, wages, and total payroll. The area that will most affect your workers’ comp rating is the risk factor of each job; even the height at which the employee works. A warehouse that provides hazardous services may have such a high loss factor, that they may be required to get coverage though an assigned risk program, which are insurance companies that provide coverage specifically for high-risk companies that may experience high losses due to illness or injury. The carriers will want to see loss runs to review type and number of injuries over a period of time.

Many individual get involved in a claim. Not only are the buyers and providers involved, but also the managers, claims administrators, lawyers, physicians, managers, and human resources manager. The best method to avoid injury claims is to provide a safe work environment along with extensive training and reward programs to reduce risk. If all else fails though, workers’ compensation insurance will ensure that you do not lose your business because of an employee injury.

Sources
Vendorguru.com
vendorseek.com
allbusiness.com

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