Workplace Safety

Reduce Your Liability While Increasing Your Workplace Safety

Carol Uribe heads up Cornerstone Insurance, and has specialized in providing sweeper company insurance coverage for a number of years. In this article, which came from a seminar Carole offered at NPE 2002, she offers a number of everyday practices for the independent sweeping contractor. It includes a variety of workplace-related suggestions that can be implemented on a day-to-day basis to help curtail losses. Keeping your loss ratio down is something that pays big dividends when it comes to insurance premiums. Here are a number of quality ideas you can implement within your own organization.

One of the first things a business owner can do to minimize liability is to screen its current employees and job applicants. As an example, by screening their driving records, you can assess any potential risks. During the bi-annual or annual management of your business insurance review, you'll want to make sure that the motor vehicle histories of your operators will lend themselves toward keeping losses to a minimum. That should be a standard practice for every sweeping operator, regardless of the number of employees, because there is a proven correlation between driver history and accident incidents for any company.

Basically, the motor vehicle report (MVR) evaluates various things. These include whether a driver has a current and/or valid license, the number of violations, and the severity of those violations. So, it gives the manager or owner of the company a very good sense of what that driver's capabilities are, or have been -- or possibly will be on the job as an employee.

Repeat offender status is a crucial area. The insurance company's concern is more of frequency than severity, because they feel that frequency will lend itself to a larger incident down the road. That is something to be cognizant of when deciding whether to employ operators who have numerous violations or infractions on their driving history

Other issues are to review the driving practices of your operators when you have your employee meetings. Guidelines should also be placed in your employee handbook, if you have developed one. If you don't yet have one, it would be worth the effort of putting a handbook together. It is extremely important that you clearly define the responsibilities of the sweeper operator, and make sure those criteria are being met at all times. This should also be a standard part of the everyday management practice of your business. It is a crucial loss control prevention measure that definitely brings rewards if it is in place and managed on a consistent basis.

There are other issues that need to be addressed on a daily basis from a management standpoint, one being equipment maintenance. Better-maintained equipment is usually better-operated equipment. And, a piece of equipment that is operating correctly is one that is safer on the road. Properly functioning lights, signals, and flashers warn other drivers of the vehicle's intent, thus helping to minimize claim activity. The purpose the following criteria is to minimize your claims level and, therefore, result in lower premiums.

Accident Prevention Measures:

• Hydroplaning. Hydroplaning occurs when your tires begin to "water ski" on a thin film of water. It can happen at speeds as low as 30 miles per hour. If it happens to you, steer straight ahead and take your foot off the accelerator.
• Accidents. As soon as an accident occurs, move off the roadway if possible, protect the scene, use all flashers available, assist any injured, notify emergency authorities immediately, and company officials as quickly as possible. Never make a stipulation at an accident scene as to who was at fault or not at fault.
• Proper following distances. Maintain safe and proper following distances. Always maintain at least a four-second following distance so you can stop in time.
• Mirrors. Constantly maintain activity with your mirrors. Most accidents occur when other vehicles on the road are trapped in your blind spot in a mirror. Scan your mirrors every 3-5 seconds.
• Headlights. Keep your headlights on at all times. Turning on headlights can reduce the risk of collision by making other drivers aware that you are there.
• Saving your brakes. Pump your brakes lightly. Never use abrupt braking methods, especially when the road conditions are wet and slippery.
• Breakdowns. A lot of breakdowns happen on the road, especially in sweeping where tire damage is prone to occurring so often. If you have to pull off the road for any reason, always turn on flashers, and always pull off in an area that is the least trafficked area of the highway or the roadway.
• Night driving. Many sweeping operators operate at night. Do not over-drive, which is to say keep behind the wheel for too long. A lot of contractors now require a minimum of 40 minutes rest, in the cab or at the base, for every four hours worked. That is something that's beginning to be implemented for night drivers, which is a good procedure.
• Sight distance. Always maintain a substantial sight distance. Look at points on the road ahead that take 12-15 seconds to reach. This is very important, as it allows for a margin of error while it increases your ability to escape any potential accident.
• Vision. Make sure that the windshield and windows are clean. A well-maintained vehicle is a safe vehicle.
• Seatbelts. Even though the operators of sweepers drive at minimum speed, they are always a potential target. When you are hit by another vehicle, you become a projectile within that vehicle. You want to minimize being thrown around or thrown out of a vehicle. Always use seatbelts, even when operating at slower speeds.
• Common sense. One of the most important things that can be implemented by any operator and/or owner is strictly common sense. Common sense is usually 9/10th of the law in most things that people engage in. If common sense becomes a daily practice, it will pretty much take care of most of the things that happen on a day-to-day basis. Getting too comfortable and neglecting to 'engage your common sense' could prove disastrous down the road.

Carole Uribe may be reached by calling 1-800-890-7990, or send her an email to curibe@cornerstoneinsurance.net. Her company's website is at www.cornerstoneinsurance.net.

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