RISK MANAGEMENT: More means more

According to various key economic indicators – such as, most notably, the gross domestic product, which measures the nation’s production output – the U.S. economic outlook is healthy. The GDP growth rate has been slow and steady and is expected to remain between the two and three percent ideal range. As of August, consumer confidence had reached its highest level since October 2000.

What this likely means for the rest of this year and next is simply “more”: more construction projects in categories like new home building, remodeling and commercial building; more business expansion; more government projects; more road/bridge work. As the number of construction projects increase in each of these categories, more of the available U.S. labor force is on the jobsite, working to make completed projects a reality.

It’s reasonable to assume that more workers on jobsites across the country brings an increased safety risk. It’s also reasonable to assume that this increase in construction projects will lead to an increase in safety incidents, such as OSHA recordables and near-misses. Another concern is a less experienced workforce, due to the increased labor demand. What this means to me and the entire risk management team at NBIS is managing risk safely is more important than ever.

NBIS is a risk management company with an insurance product, and our primary objective is to improve the risk profile of our policyholders while providing the finest insurance coverage available. We endeavor to give our clients the most innovative, educational tools we know of, so they can manage their risk through training, cost containment efforts and proactive claims handling.

In last month’s risk management column, Billy Smith wrote an article titled, “Safety Doesn’t Cost – It Pays,” where he argued that the cost of not managing safety is much greater than the cost of managing safety. As an organization, we believe this wholeheartedly. NBIS’s continued investment in new risk management tools, the development of original and groundbreaking insurance programs, and a growing team of experts focused exclusively on the heavy construction industry are just a few of the ways that we prove our commitment to safety and risk management year after year. Members of our team also continue to serve on ANSI and OSHA safety and regulatory committees.

New technology offerings

Recently, NBIS launched several new technology offerings to increase over-the-road safety and jobsite safety, including a telematics solution, free online driver training, free online safety and health training and access to OSHA 10 training at a generous discount. These solutions, which are all proven to enhance safety performance, also carry cost benefits that are passed down to the policyholder.

Controlling how much an insurance policy costs year over year is an ongoing effort – for both the insured and the insurer. There are some variables that are within the realm of control, and some variables that are not. Market trends, nuclear verdicts, investment returns – these are all factors that every insurance buyer is subjected to, so it’s difficult to lessen their impact. However, to help encourage positive pricing factors, there are always at least three areas where policyholders can focus their attention: contracts, preventative risk management and training, and claims response. In terms of our efforts at NBIS, these are the three areas in which we perform the vast majority of our work.

I like to remind people that the company that insures you doesn’t matter until it does. Insurance is largely just a commodity until a claim occurs – and then it very much matters which insurance company you’ve chosen to partner with. Insurance is largely just a commodity until a claim occurs – and then it very much matters which insurance company you’ve chosen to partner with. Over the course of that time, we’ve watched countless companies use our training tools to become better and safer. Whether we’re pioneering advancements in risk management, or simply providing an educated insurance solution, NBIS continues to fight for policyholders in every way we can.