Most of my customers feel like they’re just throwing their money out the window when they pay their insurance premiums. “I never get anything for my money,” they say, “and they probably won’t pay any claims, either.”
Well, here are a few tips on how to get something for your hard-earned premium dollars.
Let’s start with OSHA compliance. Any business that has workers who must wear respirators must also have them test fitted at least once per year. Your workers compensation insurer can send its loss control/risk management department out with the equipment to test respirator fit for each employee every year. This costs nothing but time, it satisfies OSHA, and it keeps workers safe. It’s a win, win, win. The added bonus is that the insurer is happy that their client cares enough to treat employees properly.
What about fork truck training? Sometimes it’s hard to find someone to train fork truck drivers and often they charge lots of money. Ask your insurance agent to have your insurance company offer the training for free. Often, the insurance company will actually train your people to be certified trainers thus saving you even more because your own trusted people can train the rest of your crew.
Pressure vessel testing is usually required by each state. I call the insurance company that writes the “mechanical breakdown” or “boiler and machinery” coverage and ask them to inspect the pressure machinery and then notify the state of the test results. This is usually required every year and my clients then get it free as part of what they already paid in their insurance premiums. A pressure vessel can be anything from an air compressor to a steam boiler to a hot water boiler.
Then there’s the OSHA 10-hour required training. I schedule these training sessions with my insurance companies, offering the training for free to our clients. These items are available to all of you. All you have to do is ask. You've already paid for them through your premiums.
The views and opinions expressed in this post are the author's and not necessarily those of WorkBoat.
