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Ounce of prevention worth pound of insurance
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In these challenging times, every business owner is looking for ways to reduce their costs. Some costs are often overlooked because they are considered "the cost of doing business."
Required by law, workman's compensation is one of these costs that business owners seldom see as controllable. Few recognize that costs are controllable. In some cases, attentiveness may even yield direct benefits by way of lower premiums and reimbursements on those premiums.
Members of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce can ally themselves with the SCF Arizona Association Safety Plan, a subset of chamber members, to keep premiums lower, ensure a safer workplace [the best way to keep premiums down], and annually be eligible for a bonus dividend on their-year's premiums.
There is no cost to become a member of the Association Safety Plan, but the advantages belie this free opportunity.
SCF Arizona, formerly the State Compensation Fund, partners with the Sedona Chamber of Commerce to help businesses do everything in their power to ensure a safe workplace. This is done through resources such as safety training programs, printed and video resources that can'be used to train staff, and monitoring of safety records to keep business owners cognizant of potential and repeat hazards in the workplace.
Quarterly, the ASP membership's safety record is reviewed by the chamber's Safety Committee, All claims are examined, and if a pattern of injuries becomes apparent, the individual business owner is contacted, made aware of the pattern and recommendations for affecting changes for prevention are made. Quite often, due to having to handle so many details of his or her business, the owner may miss the patterns that have the potential to allow preventable injuries to continue [and these cause premiums to go up].
Annually, the ASP's overall safety record is reviewed and if the claims and losses are low enough [evidence of effective training and prevention], a percentage of the premiums can be returned to the ASP members either by direct check or a credit to your next premium. This year, Sedona Chamber of Commerce's ASP members received a total of $10,651 of individual and bonus dividends. One member alone received $3,110 for a solid safety record, and limited claims.
Beginning in 2010, all businesses will be required by law to have a Safety Plan that indicates the owner and staff are taking an active role in prevention and training. One challenging aspect of this law is that if an accident occurs and Occupational Safety and Health Administration shows up on premises, if there is no Safety Plan, they can automatically issue a substantial fine to the owner. Burdensome yes, but preventable too. Among the ways that SCF Arizona and the chamber's ASP can assist an owner is to help develop that Safety Plan. With easy to use tools and templates, any business can create that plan that not only keeps penalties at bay, but more importantly, makes the workplace safer for everyone.
In the coming months, the Sedona Chamber will present workshops on safety issues', prevention techniques, and help with creating a Safety Plan. These will be available to any member of the Association Safety Plan.
If you are not already a member of the chamber's ASP, you shbuld.be. At no cost to you, it may be the cheapest insurance you ever "buy." If you would like more information on this benefit of chamber membership, or want to apply for membership in the chamber and the ASP, contact me at 204-1123, ext. 120. Remember Poor Richard's words of wisdom: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Chamber News, written this week by David Keeber, director of membership for the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, appears every Friday in the Sedona Red Rock News.
Speed Networking
Speed networking - think of speed dating without the date.
This is an effective way to make a lot of initial connections in a very different environment from the standard business networking mixers. Join the Sedona Chamber of Commerce for this fun, exciting and high-energy event Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Elks Lodge; there is no cost to attend. However you must, R.S.V.P. by calling the chamber office at 204-1123. Nonmembers are also invited to participate. Sponsorship opportunities are available.
Copyright 2009 Sedona Red Rock News, Sedona, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.
© 2010 Sedona Red Rock News Sedona, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.
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