Health and safety saving businesses money
Jan 1, 2010
Although for many businesses the cost of Employers’ Liability (EL) insurance has stabilised, it can, as employers know very well, still dent the balance sheet.
Increasing claims consciousness and legal changes, as well as wider financial market conditions, will inevitably affect premium levels. You may be able to influence the premium you pay by ensuring that your health and safety risk management systems are made known to your insurer. Insurers largely base their decision on how much premium you pay upon the information they receive about the nature of your business; primarily your claims experience and how well you are managing your health and safety risks.
Clearly you can’t change the past claims history of either your industry or your company. The one area you can change easily is the quality of your health and safety risk management system. Not only could this affect your renewal premium but any efforts made here may also reduce future claims levels and lead to improved company performance.
In effect, the costs of implementing a health and safety system could be offset by the benefits of lower insurance premiums, increased productivity due to less lost time and lower staff turnover.
The hidden costs of an accident or incident are not always appreciated. The HSE estimate that for every £1 recovered through insurance the total unrecovered loss can exceed £11.
The key to managing a company’s health and safety is having a bespoke policy, which sets out how the company will manage and improve its health and safety, and the commitment from the employer to implement the systems implicit in the policy. This does not have to cost a fortune. Wilby Limited will tailor its input to maximise the benefit of every pound you spend on putting systems in place. I would advise employers who are serious about improving safety and saving money to steer clear of anyone who doesn’t carry out an in depth analysis of audit of work carried out, current compliance levels, health and safety management structure and responsibilities.
Contact: Bob Woods
01422 398690
bob.woods@wilbyltd.co.uk
