Commercial Insurance Archives - Evolution Insurance

A Guide to Preventing Slips and Falls Around Your Business

Posted on December 20, 2019December 9, 2019 by Jenna Cole

Whether you actually hurt yourself or just suffer from a bruised ego, slipping and falling is always a nasty shock. At home, you can usually just dust yourself off and forget about it, but if you own a business, slips and falls suddenly become much more serious. Maintaining a safe business property for your employees and customers becomes paramount, both to give them a great experience, and to prevent any big insurance claims from knocking at your door.

Reduce your business’s potential for hazardous slips and falls by implementing these safety tips:

Secure Stairways and Ramps

Stay up to date with your city’s local building codes, and install the proper handrails along every stairway and ramp. Even tiny platforms comprised of 1 or 2 steps should have some kind of banister in place. This gives stability to your pedestrians and helps protect you if someone falls in those areas and decides to pursue legal action against you. Also consider lining your stairs and ramps with a non-slip material.

Maintain Walkways and Lawn Areas

Remove obstructions from any walking paths that your employees or customers have to use. It is also important to repair uneven, broken, or bumpy surfaces in the parking lot or on the sidewalk. In the winter, make sure your sprinkler systems are turned off and drained to prevent leaks and icy patches around your establishment.

Keep Safety in Mind All the Time

Aside from covering the basics to keep your business up to code, just make it a habit to look for potential slipping/falling hazards located all around your business.

Maintain adequate lighting in all areas where pedestrians will be walking.
Keep “Wet Floor” signs in areas where your employees can conveniently access them to warn people away from spills.
Repair torn carpet, loose or missing floor tiles, and other flooring materials as soon as you can after they are damaged.
If you live in an area with heavy snowfall, establish a snow removal plan for parking lots, sidewalks, and dumpster areas.
Keep emergency phone numbers posted in areas where people can see them easily.
Stay stocked up on first-aid kits and keep them in plain site. These emergency resources help you and your staff minimize the damage of a bad fall.

When an employee or a customer takes a fall at your business, the consequences have the potential to be dire. Prevent them as much as you can by keeping the area clean and maintained. People will be safer and your business will look better for your efforts! Overall, make sure you are protected by a solid insurance policy that will cover your company if someone gets hurt anyway. You can never be too secure!

How to Create a Culture of Safety in Your Business

Posted on May 24, 2019May 31, 2019 by Jenna Cole

When you think of “workplace culture,” you probably picture casual Fridays or volunteering as a group. Having a positive workplace culture is certainly something that benefits businesses and helps with employee retention. But what some people forget about is that a “culture of safety” is an equally important type of workplace culture.

What Is a Culture of Safety?

Essentially what this phrase means is the attitude of all members of a company – from the bottom to the top – towards safety in the workplace. Cultures of safety can be positive or negative. In a negative culture of safety, workers, managers, and anyone in between do not respect the recommended safety measures. As a result, more accidents happen in a workplace with a negative safety culture. In a positive safety culture, everyone respects and obeys the safety rules and regulations without complaint, and less accidents and workers compensation claims happen. So how do you create a culture of safety in your business? Here are some helpful tips.

Engage in Continued Education

Safety meetings are a great occasion to maintain your employees’ safety education. It’s normal for people to forget what they learned the first week on the job in orientation safety training. If your employees’ work includes a significant physical aspect, the safety meetings are a great opportunity to review proper physical operations such as how to lift heavy objects or how to safely operate large machinery and equipment.

Look Into Near Misses

It may not have actually hurt anyone or resulted in a workers comp claim, but a near miss could be a full on accident next time. If an almost-accident occurs, put on an investigation to look into its cause and determine what could have prevented it. Then observe these new safety practices to reduce the possibility of that near miss becoming something more serious.

Reward Employee Reporting

In a positive safety culture, employees feel comfortable reporting safety concerns or hazards to management. Going along with this, the management must take the reports seriously and work to correct the situation. It can be important to reward employees who step forward about concerns they see on the ground, Often, these individuals are in the best position to notice safety hazards and as such should be listened to as a valuable safety resource.

Every business should work to create a positive safety culture, but accidents may still happen. Ensure your operation has the best insurance coverage to reduce losses in the event of an unfortunate accident or injury. Talk to your agent today to make sure your business is protected.

When Do You Need Commercial Auto Insurance? The Answer Might Surprise You

Posted on March 8, 2019March 7, 2019 by Jenna Cole

For some, it’s an easy question. You need commercial auto coverage when your business owns company vehicles – whether it’s one or an entire fleet. However this is not the only instance in which a commercial auto policy is recommended. If you often use your personal vehicle for work purposes, besides commuting, you just might need a commercial auto policy, too.

You Do Not Always Need a Commercial Auto Policy

As we previously stated, simply driving your own car back and forth to work is not a situation where you need to consider commercial auto insurance. Neither is giving rides to coworkers or taking your car out on a coffee run for the office.

What Kind of Use Might Necessitate Commercial Auto Coverage?

However, if you use your personal vehicle to transport tools or equipment to a job site, you should be considering a commercial policy. This is especially true if the tools and equipment are expensive and their damage or theft would put your company at risk. Another instance in which you might consider commercial auto coverage is if you use your own car to travel long distances for work, or to transport clients. Even a teenager who delivers food with his own car poses a liability to his company.

It Is Different for Rideshare Drivers

There is a slight exception in the case of rideshare drivers working for companies such as Uber or Lyft. Most commercial auto policies do not offer the coverage rideshare drivers require for their unique needs, although some insurers have started offering rideshare insurance.

It All Depends on Frequency

If you only occasionally use your own vehicle for work purposes, it is likely you will only need personal auto insurance. On the other hand, if your use of your own car for business needs is frequent and ongoing, you should talk to your agent about your options.

Commercial Auto Policy or Modified Personal Auto Policy?

Your insurance agent is equipped to advise you on whether you truly need a commercial auto policy for your own vehicle. Commercial auto coverage can be expensive, but it may be possible to modify your personal auto policy to take occasional business use into account. Otherwise, your independent agent can shop the market to find you the best quotes for commercial auto insurance.

Preparing Your Business for the Event of a Flood

Posted on February 25, 2019February 25, 2019 by Jenna Cole

Just like your home, your business can flood and potentially experience extensive damage. However, your business has a completely different set of risks than your home does. After a flood in your place of business, you could experience loss resulting from damage to records, inventory, equipment, and technology as well as other valuable property and assets. You also face a potential loss of business income in the time it takes to restore your facility – not to mention the cost of debris removal, cleanup, and restoration. Business owners can mitigate risk by developing a flood disaster plan and, of course, by having the proper insurance coverage in place.

Flood Damage Is Serious Business for Your Business

Flooding can be caused by many events, including heavy rainfall, overflow from rivers or ponds, or a breach in a levee or dam. Often, flash floods can occur with almost no warning. In regards to damage, floods do more than simply make everything wet. Flooding can cause structural and electrical damage. The flood water itself often contains sharp debris like metal or glass fragments or hazardous, unsanitary matter, and this water can contaminate anything it touches. Of course, if employees are present at the time of the flooding, their lives can also be in great danger.

Ask Your Agent About Available Insurance Coverage

Most standard commercial policies do not cover flood damage. However, some carriers offer coverage that is specifically tailored for business floods. The majority of these policies are provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The NFIP only covers commercial property, so you will need to ask your agent about adding flood-specific business interruption coverage to protect your operation against loss of income.

Create a Comprehensive Workplace Flood Disaster Plan

One of the most important ways you can prepare your business for the event of a flood is to keep copies of your insurance documentation and other vital documents in a location that will be safe from any potential flood damage; you can even keep these documents off site if you are able. In addition to important documents, you will want to keep a backup list of all employees’ contact information. The next step is to assess the risks your building faces – check all walls and seams for cracks, move valuable items from bottoms floors if possible, and consider installing a sump pump to help prevent water from getting inside your building. Finally, in the event of an emergency during work hours, you will need an evacuation plan that all employees are trained in.

In the Event of a Flood…

You will be grateful that you have insurance to lessen the impact of the damage. Reach out to your agent today to find out more about your options to get covered.