Ten Ways to Improve Workplace Safety
Preventing workplace incidents is an important way to save workers’ compensation dollars. Previous blogs cover the importance of the CEO’s support, how to convince the CEO that it should be a priority, the importance of a culture of sharing, the need for a safety culture and how to tell if it exists. This blog focuses […]
Reinsurance Surplus Subdues the Premium Tide
The reinsurance industry has reached its highest surplus in history – about $515B. This is despite the fact that 10 of 12 of the nation’s most costly storms happened in the past decade. To find out why, check out my most recent Leader’s Edge article, “Survivor: The past decade set natural disaster records, yet most […]
Industry Spotlight: 20 Questions with Annmarie Geddes Baribeau
Claimwire Interview by Steve Schmutz Steve Schmutz 08/26/13 I first heard about Annmarie on LinkedIn. I saw a link to one of her articles that caught my interest. It was excellent – and refreshingly real. Too many articles today are bland re-runs – no personality and nothing new. I started reading more of Annmarie’s articles and […]
Does Your Company Have A Safety Culture?
Managers often insist their company has one. Last week’s blog covered the signs of a workplace safety culture. But to really know, you have to ask employees. It takes courage to ask employees what they really think, but doing can boost trust between employees and management. Consider an employee survey that focuses on the company’s safety culture. […]
Signs of a Workplace Safety Culture
Employers miss potential dividends from workplace safety initiatives when they don’t instill safety as part of their corporate culture. A safety culture describes the way the C-Suite, supervisors and employers think, feel and act towards occupational safety. Reflecting the “unspoken rules” about values, priorities and how the work is done, a corporate culture can support […]
Reporters Have the Worst Job in America
Ever since I was in 8th grade, I wanted to be a reporter. It was an easy choice. I like to write, I am naturally curious and I hate math! The Columbia Journalism Review recently reported that reporting is considered the worst job in America. Had that been written during my college years, it would not […]
Workers’ Comp and Safety Programs Need a Culture of Sharing
We talk a lot in workers’ compensation about employers having a culture of caring. Employers and employees also benefit from what I call a culture of sharing. In a culture of sharing, employees are aware of what kind of information management needs to improve the company’s safety and workers’ compensation programs. Employees are also empowered […]
Workers’ Comp News from Annmarie’s Inbox
Workers’ compensation news does not take a summer vacation. Drugs, safety and comp claim costs – my inbox is chock full of good stuff — just like the days of old when I covered workers’ comp full time. Relieved from completing a big client project, I give you my take of recent news. If you […]
Staying Afloat: Flood Insurance Is A Taxpayer Burden
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is in debt. About $24 billion in debt to be exact. It’s part of the larger debt we taxpayers are carrying because the program cannot collect what it needs to pay flood claims. But before you get bent out of shape about another tax burden, consider this. The program […]
Involve Employees in Workplace Safety
Improving workplace safety should not be limited to top-down procedures and programs. Many employers I have interviewed said involving employees in the safety process greatly helped reduce workplace incidents. It works for many reasons. Some of it is psychological. Giving employees some ownership makes them feel like they are more like partners than merely employees. […]
