Insurance isn’t always top of mind but when unexpected incidents happen, people are certainly glad to have the protection. The primary purpose of insurance is to reduce financial uncertainty and make accidental loss manageable. In other words, it is one tool for reducing risk. In exchange for a premium, you transfer the risk of financial loss to the insurance provider. But there is another important tool to help control, manage or reduce risk, appropriately called “risk control.”
What Is Risk Control?
Risk control, sometimes referred to as loss control or hazard control, is a set of methods by which firms evaluate potential losses and take action to reduce or eliminate those threats. It utilizes findings from risk assessments, which involve identifying potential risk factors in a company’s operations that may affect the well-being of the firm.
How Risk Control Works
Managing risk goes beyond insurance and the payout after a loss. It’s about planning for and mitigating potential risks before they affect your business. Risk control is one of the most important elements of risk management because it contains insurance costs by controlling risk at the source. Businesses may use a myriad of risk control methods to reduce the chances of incidents, including but not limited to:
- Avoidance. Finding ways to avoid potential disaster (eg. replacing dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives).
- Loss prevention. These programs are designed to mitigate hazards that could impact the safety of employees or customers, damage property, or cause reputational or financial consequences.
- Duplication. This involves creating a backup plan in case things go awry. For instance, having a backup server that’s updated daily can mitigate losses in the event of a technology breakdown or cyber attack.
- Loss reduction. As opposed to loss prevention, loss reduction accepts some inherent risk and aims to minimize the damage in the event of an incident. For example, flammable materials in a building mean there is some risk of fire so loss reduction methods might include a proper sprinkler system.
Risk Control Services Available to Society Insurance Customers
Risk Control Consulting
Our role is to establish a working partnership and provide the best utilization of risk control services. We document service objectives in a written service plan and develop a method of monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of risk control services. By working side-by-side with you, we develop a fact-based view of the hazards affecting the business and provide consultative advice to successfully eliminate them. Each plan we develop is tailored specifically for the clients’ needs.
Customized Training Programs
We are at your service for train-the-trainer sessions or other training needs, whether it’s crafting presentations for employees or for the managers that will train the employees. Topics are suited to your business’ needs and can range from defensive driving to forklift safety and everything in between.
In addition to customized training, we also offer OSHA 10-hour construction or general industry courses.
Ergonomic Assistance
Accidents caused by lifting, carrying, sorting product, pushing, pulling or repetitive movements are a significant source of workers’ compensation costs in many industries. We can work with you to review claims resulting from cumulative trauma/repetitive motion to determine the exact cause(s) of the injuries. Then, we help develop plans and implement programs to minimize these injuries. We can also perform Ergonomic Evaluations to identify specific tasks or operations that are likely to lead to musculoskeletal injuries and the administrative procedures or countermeasures that can reduce those risks.
Risk Improvement
Risk improvement service may include an initial assessment of the insured’s safety program, looking for areas of weakness, or where improvement is warranted. Risk improvement usually consists of one to three on-site visits, but is not intended to be continuous service. For instance, we may review machine guarding procedures, safety program development, claims analysis to address what’s driving up your losses or risks, and job-site visits to assist with hazard identification and awareness.
Floor Audits
Society Risk Control takes a proactive approach to try to reduce the number of slip/fall claims and/or their severity. This is done by reviewing customers’ floor cleaning protocol, their use of floor mats, maintenance, and repair of floor surfaces, and advocating non-slip footwear programs for employees. We consult with you on slip and fall exposures and test floor surfaces to determine if there is a slip and fall exposure that needs to be corrected. Our staff is trained to conduct floor audits using the BOT-3000E digital tribometer. The audit provides objective data that is based on a recognized standard to develop effective recommendations to minimize the risk of slip and fall incidents.
Programs and Discounts
- Intellcorp: Society insurance policyholders qualify for discounted rates on IntelliCorp’s employment screening products and services, making it easier and more affordable for you to hire the right people.
- ServSafe: The National Restaurant Association (NRA) and Society Insurance have partnered to create an online portal offering Policyholder’s a 10% discount on all ServSafe products.
Additional Risk Control Resources
- Safety handouts: Browse our risk management library to strengthen your loss prevention efforts in crime prevention, fire protection, food service safety, electrical safety and more.
- Safety video library: Through your Society Insurance policy, your business can view health and safety programs from Safety Source for free! This includes access to over 400 videos with quizzes. These programs — many of which are available in Spanish — cover a wide range of topics to help make your workplace safer.
- Webinars: Society’s risk management team is pleased to provide flexible learning opportunities for our customers. Webinars are conducted four times a year by our risk management professionals. You can also browse our archives of previously recorded webinars.
- Blogs and White papers: Society offers tips and trends on a variety of business and insurance topics.
Connect with our Society Insurance Risk Control Team
When it comes to risk management, prevention is the key. Our team works directly with you to identify and evaluate dangers that could result in financial loss or injury. We rely upon the technical diversity of our risk management professionals who have experience in your industry to provide honest, objective, and thoughtful advice in developing risk control solutions. For to learn more about our risk management services, visit us at societyinsurance.com or contact your local Society Insurance agent.