Employees are at risk for injury in just about every industry. Injuries can be the result of anything from poor posture and repetitive motion in an office to burns or falls in a restaurant. Injuries often lead to workers compensation claims, which can be complicated, time intensive and costly.

While safety policies and practices are meant to prevent injuries, they’re not always fail-safe, and at some point, many employers will face filing a workers compensation claim. The most important factor in a successful resolution to any workers compensation claim is a timely return to work. With proper claims handling, your insurance company can make a big difference by identifying treatment options that will facilitate a quicker recovery and return to work. Read More>

It’s a word you never want to hear in association with your business. Even small fires can cause a great deal of damage, and frankly, damage is just the best-case scenario when it comes to fire—if nobody is hurt, you consider yourself lucky.

But any fire is serious, often being followed by months-long investigations to determine the cause of the fire. As that process plays out, there’s also the need to clean up the mess, which typically takes close to a week and requires a short-term shutdown even with a small and contained fire. That’s because when it comes to fire, the damage often goes beyond what actually was burned: Smoke and water damage from sprinklers typically extend far beyond the original location of the fire. Read More>

Restaurants, bars and taverns can be targets for robbery, burglary and theft. These businesses may accumulate a large amount of cash during daily operations, which makes them attractive targets for criminal activity. Read More>

One of the biggest threats to restaurant and bar owners is fire, which can be a costly and potentially business-ending disaster. Grease accumulation, equipment malfunction and general poor housekeeping are all potential dangers and perpetual fire hazards. From 2006-2010, an estimated average of 7,640 structure fires in restaurants and bars were reported to U.S. fire departments per year. Associated annual losses included two civilian deather per year, 115 civilian injuries and $246 million in property loss. Read More>

Grocery stores and convenience stores (C-stores) have a variety of safety issues that can become serious problems for owners. From slips and falls to cuts and burns, grocery and C-stores are constantly at risk for lost productivity and profit. it’s important for grocery store and C-store owners to take steps to mitigate these threats to prevent financial loss as well as damage to their store’s reputation. Read More>

While security issues are a concern for any business, grocery stores and convenience stores (C-stores) have a number of unique security threats to address. These threats include, but are certainly not limited to: fraud, theft and assaults. Fortunately, there are a number of practices grocery store and C-store owners can adopt that will help mitigate these perils and protect against financial hardship. Read More>

Businesses in the hospitality industry (bars, restaurants, hotels) provide a fun and relaxed atmosphere for clientele to briefly escape their everyday routines. While these establishments look for ways to distinguish themselves from the competition, they often share one common feature: a bar. Alcohol service, the commercial sale of alcohol, creates unique risks and exposures which business owners must not only address by having specific guidelines in place; they must also strictly enforce. Read More>

Some restaurant kitchen appliances use solid fuel such as mesquite, charcoal and hardwood to cook and heat food. It adds another dimension to restaurant offerings – from pizzas to smoked meat – and has the potential to bring in more business. Solid fuel cooking also allows restaurants a wider array of flavor and cooking capabilities.

Although solid fuel appliances also have the potential for increased safety risks, restaurant owners can safely use most solid fuel appliances with the right amount of understanding and preparation. Read More>

Power outages, theft or property damage can force a business to closer for days, weeks or months, causing significant financial losses. No business can afford to take a hit like that to its finances or reputation.

That’s where business interruption coverage comes in, helping businesses recoup losses from unexpected closure. However, many insurance providers do not automatically include business interruption coverage in their policies. Those that do often only begin to reimburse policyholders after 72 hours or require a minimum deductible. That means a business will not be reimbursed for lost revenue and necessary continuing expenses for up to three days. Read More>

For 20 days spanning from November 27 to December 15, 2013, the retail giant Target Corporation experienced one of the largest data breaches in American history. The information consisted of everything from some 70 million customer names and 40 million credit and debit card numbers to the short verification codes on the back of the compromised cards. Read More>

Have you ever slipped, tripped or fallen? Perhaps you have watched a television show where a slip, trip and fall was the punch line for a joke. Slips, trips and falls are no joke, however, and rank among the most frequent types of accidents, second only to motor-vehicle accidents as a cause of death. According to recent information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they are second in the number of disabling injuries in occupations, accounting for nearly 25 percent of all disabling injuries. Read More>

A common mistake an employer can make is to buy workers compensation insurance in one state while having employees working and/or living in another state. This creates a liability exposure in which the policy you purchased may not have coverage for claims generated by these employees. Read More>

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly 48 million Americans get sick due to foodborne illness every year. Additionally, roughly 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 actually die of foodborne diseases each year. Read More>

Everyone knows to be careful during the winter months when temperatures dip below freezing and there’s snow or ice on the ground. What people often neglect to consider is that hazards still exist in the summer months, both indoors and outdoors. In fact, it’s the element of surprise that can make summer slips, trips and falls more severe than those that occur in winter. Read More>

Conducting a proper and fair background check on potential employees is not easy, but it is an effective way to discover potential issues that could hurt your business. Read More>

Proper knife use is an important aspect of grocery store safety. Employees use knives and other cutting tools to open boxes, separate bindings from raw materials and cut seafood, meat and poultry. Unsafe knife practices can lead to serious, preventable injuries. Read More>

As a business owner you can’t do everything yourself;  this becomes more evident as your business grows and expands. To better manage your business, you may hire outside experts or contractors to help maintain your facility or provide a service to your customers. This may include carpenters, plumbers, electricians and snow removal contractors who will work on your property. This may also include a service provider hired to deliver a product to your customer, or install or service your product at your customer’s home or business. Read More>

While all claims situations are serious, workers compensation claims are particularly harrowing because they involve the most valuable resource a business has: its people. The timely handling of a workers compensation claim can have a huge impact on the ultimate outcome. Cases that do not receive proper attention in a timely fashion — both from an indemnity perspective and a medical perspective — have the potential for a poor outcome. As such, any steps that can be taken to move the process along quickly are much more likely to create the best possible outcome. Read More >